RWBY: The Hero in your Heart
by SlimPickensUK
Summary: Over the many centuries, the Gainsborough bloodline has given Remnant numerous warriors, scholars and artisans who have all been revered in some way, whether it be small or large. But after a horrible tragedy befalls the latest generation, only a son is left. Will he carry on his family's legacy and honour the name? or will he be consumed by his own selfish desire for vengeance?
1. Introduction

**Introduction**

**This is just an introduction outlining a few things, you don't have to read it so feel free to skip ahead if you want to.**

**First off, apologies for the lame title.**

**Over the past year or so I have read an uncountable number of Fanfictions that all have inspired me to finally write this story, most of these were OC centric as well as I believe it makes a story more accessible to the reader as they too in a way are brought along for the ride with the character.**

**So I thought to myself "start getting these ideas down or your gonna start losing some." So I did, I began planning the story itself and around two weeks later finally started typing as fast as my comically small hands would let me.**

**Something worth noting is that this fic may include music cues if I deem that they go with the scene or are necessary for the mood, some may go with the scene while some may not but that is for you to decide.**

**As I said before I had read numerous fanfic's before writing this, and I would like to give my undying thanks to all of the RWBY fan writers out there as they have inspired and encouraged me with their individual works.**

**Now this would be the part where I ask you to go easy on me in the reviews as this is my first fanfic and all that, But I am asking you not to. If something doesn't make sense, tell me. If a part seems badly written, tell me. If I'm not descriptive enough, for the love god tell me; and as long as it is constructive and helpful criticism I will act upon it. **

**Given this is the first story I have written in about ten years my writing skill would have undoubtedly suffered, but as I gradually work on the story I do expect that to improve over time.**

**Regarding lemons: decision on those will be made when I come to writing them. If they turn out well enough and up to my standards then I will chuck them into the mix; but if they turn out crappy and basically ruin the story, then I won't bother and it will more of an implied sort of deal. There will almost certainly be some lime though that you can be sure of.**

**Disclaimer: RWBY is the property of Monty Oum and Roosterteeth productions, the only thing I own are my own OC's and this Fanfic.**


	2. Prologue

**AN: In my opinion this first chapter took me way too long to write, started on a Saturday and finished on a Wednesday. Also throughout a lot of this chapter the main character goes without a name. This is intentional as wanted him to remain fairly anonymous right till the last scene. Also the writing isn't great in the first couple of chapters, but it has improved in the chapters following these first few.**

**Lastly I don't own RWBY...unfortunately. Just my OC's.**

* * *

Prologue.

Someone once said to me...

_"Heroes are made by the paths they choose, not the powers they are graced with."_

And if you live in a world where people maintain a conspiracy of silence, then one word of truth will sound like a gunshot.

What they fail to realize is that anyone can be ordinary.

Anyone can be boring.

Anyone can be spectacular.

Anyone can be spectacular.

Anyone can be shy.

Anyone can be bold.

Anyone can be helpless.

Anyone can be a hero.

It all depends on that one momentous day and what you choose to do with it.

* * *

The city of Vale could be considered a metropolis by some with its multiple districts catering to every need of any resident, tourist or even just a passing visitor; or perhaps its prestigious academy overlooking the city from the nearby cliffs nestled behind the industrial and commercial districts. This of course was Beacon academy. A school established to train young men and women who aspire to be Huntsman and Huntresses, who's sworn duty is to defend and uphold peace across the world of Remnant.

It was said academy's illuminating central spire for which It was so aptly named that provided the only prominent light source for miles in the dead of night with the streets essentially deserted bar a few wandering denizens. The industrial districts factories closed down for the night after a long day and the ports were as silent as a tomb with only the sound of the gentle slosh of the sea against ship hulls. All in all the night in Vale was calm and peaceful

The only thing disturbing this silent night would be that of a column of smoke and the loud blare of sirens emanating from a flaming four story apartment block down in the residential district on the outermost parts of Vale of course. Compared the rest of the city, the scene on the ground at the front of the structure could have been compared to a warzone. The police that were present were doing everything they could to hold back civilians gathered in the street in front of the building. Residents clad in cinged and burned clothing were fighting to get past to get to family and neighbours still trapped inside the burning and very quickly collapsing structure. Despite the fire department valiant efforts, the blaze was edging them out nonetheless and it wouldn't be long before the structure came down under its own weight.

As the surrounding apartments had been evacuated due the severity of the blaze a rather large crowd had quickly gathered behind the hastily erected barricades. a few offered any aid they could, while the majority were merely looking on at the inferno before them and payed no mind to the perils of the residents still trapped inside.

Amongst the trails of hoses, frantic firefighters, police officers and paramedics; a weathered looking firehouse chief was pacing back and forth. He was desperately trying to safely coordinate his men through a deadly ever changing maze that could come down on them at any moment.

"What's the hold up in there, Foley?" the chief spoke into his radio mounted on his shoulder.

"we've just finished clearing the second floor, but the staircase leading up to the next floor has collapsed and we can hear movement through the ceiling. We can't get to them!" The firefighter on the other end of radio quickly replied in a panicky tone over the radio built into his helmet.

The chief quickly walked over to the hood of a nearby police car. Sprawled out on the hood of the car were the floor plans for the apartment building. After a quick observation of the layout he looked back at the building itself, "There should be a fire escape on the west side of the building."

After a short pause, Foley came back over the radio. "we just tried that chief. That whole side is in flames and we can't even get near it!"

"Montydammit," The chief cursed. He paced around a couple of times before throwing his helmet at the police car in frustration. After a long pause he slowly reaches back up to his radio with a shaky hand. "Foley, get out there. There's nothing more we can do here, we've...we've lost control of the fire".

"But...but chief we can't those people behind!"

"NOW DAMMIT!" The chief screamed into his radio.

Meanwhile, behind the crowds and barricades, in a nearby alley; a shadow was listening intently to the Chief's conversation. "_Ok, third floor. Should be easy enough."_ Thought the shadow as it retreated back into the alley and approached a fire escape.

* * *

Not long after on the roof of the adjacent building only just reaching up to the third story of the apartment drawing every eye in the local area, a tall lone male figure was slowly backing all the way up the edge of the roof furthest from the tall inferno.

The shadowy figure turned out to be a young man looking no older than eighteen. He had dark brown near shoulder length hair in a swept back fashion, brown eyes with a golden fleck in each one and an ever so slightly pale complexion. His face had a few visible scars, most prominently one running diagonal across his brow and one on his jaw going upwards just short of his mouth. He is donned in a russet brown leather long coat with moulded leather spaulders attached to the coat via straps sewn in to the shoulders, he also had on his hands cowhide leather fingerless gloves with built in hard knuckles. Underneath the coat he is wearing a simple white shirt loosely hugging his form, dark grey pants with a couple of minor tears around the shins, a pair of raggedy and muddy combat boots. Going across his body was a simple strap with a sheath on his back. In the sheath was a metal rod around 2ft in length. It looked relatively plain, with the exception of minor detailing and a metal talon on each end. Alongside all of that, he wore leg holsters. each one holding a nickel plated Hardballer pistol with two spare clips per gun secured alongside them.

He lined up with the only window that didn't have flames licking up against it, indicating at least some form of safety from certain incineration. Not a second later after deducing this, the figure takes off sprinting at full speed and straight at the chosen window. As he closed within twenty feet of the ledge, he draws the metal rod from its sheath on his back.

The rod could now clearly be seen. It had intricate designs covering the majority of the casing, a leather wrapped grip and a metal talons also had detailing on them as well. He quickly extends the rod to three times its own length with a simple push of a button in the hilt, as it did this, the talons retracted into its inner workings. Once his weapon had finished its transformation, he planted the tip at the edge of the building, the stave flexed and vaulted the young man up almost effortlessly. into the air and sent him sailing across the street. At this distance the light from the flames illuminated ambitious daredevil to the crowd below, and a very audible gasp of awe and surprise could be heard from them.

Before he gets even halfway across the street and to the building, he draws one his pistols and immediately puts two rounds into the window fracturing the glass and thus weakening it. After a timely holster of both the stave and the pistol, he tucked in his arms and legs before crashing through the window. He landed in a crouched stance and quickly observed his surroundings. The room turned out to be a small bathroom, but something else about the room had his attention. The room wasn't only filled with smoke but also a large number of grey specks mixed in with it.

"_Asbestos!? That explains it."_ He concluded as to why the fire had barely touched the room. He promptly brought a white scarf hidden behind the collar of his coat and covered his nose and mouth. After tying the scarf in the back, he then cautiously opened the bathroom door and advanced into a bedroom.

He moved through the rooms quick and efficiently taking down already crumbling doors that wouldn't open initially. He cleared the first few rooms and found them completely empty.

He exited out into a smoke filled hallway and looked over the bannister of the stairwell. The walls of the stairwell were already on fire in some places and most of the floors below were almost completely ablaze. Down on the second floor landing below were two defiant firefighters that obviously refused to abandon their rescue efforts or didn't hear the call altogether. They were arguing over ways to gain access to the floor the young man was on. One of them was throwing a rope up the stairwell and trying to get up into the ceiling. "Just gotta get it across this over that beam, and then we're in business." One muttered.

"You're not even getting close. We need someone up there too as well to secure it even if you do manage to get it over the beam." The other countered.

"Well unless you've got any better ideas? No? Well then this all we've got!" The first one responded, sounding more panicked than angry.

This argument between the two was abruptly stopped by a sharp and loud whistle from the third floor. the firefighters look up to see the brown haired teen and they both shared a confused look. "Throw me the rope." the teen calmly told them, whilst outstretching his hand down to them.

"Who the hell are you?" the first one asked.

"Doesn't matter. Now, the rope if you please." The teen replied in the same calm demeanour but with a subtle hint of agitation.

"But, you're just a kid." the other argued.

"Look, we can discuss ageism in the workplace later, but right now." the teen replied with clear agitation and whilst motioning for them to make with the rope.

"…..Alright." The first firefighter agreed after a moment's hesitation.

They hastily threw an end along with a good bit of slack up to the third floor and the teen expertly set up a simple SRT system with a Klemheist knot he ahd fashioned using a small separate length of rope that he already had on his person.

"All set up here. You guys just be ready!" he shouted down the stairs on his way to the doors further down the hall.

"We'll be here, apparently." One if the still dumbfounded firefighters responded.

"What just happened?" The other asked slack jawed.

"I don't know. But right now, he's the best chance those people have got."

"Did you see the look in his eye? He wasn't even fazed by the blaze around him. Kid's gotta be a huntsman or something with those kinds of balls."

The teen made his way down a hallway away from the stairwell. As the density of the smoke increased, the boy could no longer rely on his vision to effectively look for people trapped or lost in the smoke. He had to pray that his calling out would be enough, and that's if the residents were even conscious to reply.

"Call out!" He shouted, and almost immediately he was answered.

"IN HERE!" The last two doors on the floor simultaneously called back.

The teen quickly moved to the first door. "stand back!"

He proceeded to kick the door down. It instantly turned to splinters due to the force and its already weakened state. Inside was a young faunus woman with short brown hair with a pair of ears poking out of them, and a bushy tail the same colour as her hair. She was wearing simple pyjama outfit of a pair of short shorts and a babydoll top, and she looked no older than he was.

He took her hand and led her out of her apartment. "Head to the stairs and wait there while I get the last door." He ordered.

"O-okay." she frantically acknowledged and hurried down the hallway to the stairwell.

Continuing to the last door, the boy started to hear soft whimpers in numerous tones coming from behind the door. upon hearing this he doubles his efforts and sets to work on getting in the room. First by trying to kick the door, which failed. He tried shoulder bashing it down, it still doesn't budge. Ultimately he tries unloading a round from one his pistols, only to have it ricochet off the lock housing and ping multiple times around the hallway and thankfully not causing any damage other than the boy's pride. He was quickly running out of ideas and each were getting more drastic than the last. His train of thought was broken by a desperate sounding voice coming from the other side of the door.

"It's no use! The ceiling came down in front the door, we can't get out!" The whimpering and sobbing continued from behind the door.

After learning this, the teen takes a step back to and weighs out his options; none of which involved leaving these people to die, especially by such slow and horrible means. "_Okay, okay, think; door is solid, frame is reinforced, and a collapsed ceiling is the icing on the cake."_

He shifted his attention around the door and he noticed a small handful of very noticeable cracks in the wall as well as numerous hairline cracks to accompany them. "That'll do." He muttered running a hand over one of the cracks. "Okay, what I want you to do is back away from the wall next to the door. Once I'm through, move fast. I don't know how this'll last after this stunt, you got that?" After a brief silence from the other side he gets his answer.

"O-Okay, we understand" a voice hesitantly replied.

He takes a deep breath and takes a step back from the wall. _"Okay, not too much, or too little; unless you wanna end up with a concussion."_

He faced the wall, he then flares his aura and a faint blue glow forms around his body. Once he was done channeling most of his aura into his legs and arms, he launches himself directly at the wall stopping immediately on the other side.

"MOVE, HURRY!" He yelled once the dust had cleared from the impact.

Finally able to put owners to the voices and to his genuine surprise he was able to see it was a whole family. Mother, father, a couple of kids; a boy and a girl, grandparents, even the family dog.

As soon the last of them had filed out, a section of the roof along from the doorway started to give way. acting on pure instinct, the teen dived back out through the doorway and scurried further down the hallway in case anymore fell, none did in the end. Instead however a large portion fell under its own weight and slanted down creating a crude ramp up to the fourth floor.

Ignoring that for now, the young man carried on back to the stairwell and found the larger than expected group in a rather panicked state due to the intensifying fires and billowing smoke from the floors below. He didn't stop to calm them down and instead went straight for the rope he had left resting against the bannister.

He looked down at the firefighters still waiting patiently for his return. "Your belts, quick!" He called down to them.

It wasn't long until a couple of riggers belts from the firefighters kits were chucked up to the third floor. The now ragged looking teen quickly rigged one up to the rope, while the other is handed to the father of the children.

"Take this and put it on one of them. They're going first." The brown haired boy explains to him, referring to the man's two young children.

He instantly obliges and puts the belt around his son while the mother brings the daughter towards the stairwell and proceeds to do the same with the belt already attached to the rope. As they were doing this, the oddly calm teen was busy setting up an ordered system with the receivers on the second floor.

Once children were secure in the belts and attached to the ropes; they hoisted up and lowered to the waiting men below. Despite the scared and worried faces of both the parents and the children, the kids reached the second floor without a hitch. After reeling the rope back up, the grandparents were harnessed next. Even with them initially refusing to leave each other's grasp and their own children, they wisely accepted the riggers belts and began getting themselves ready. While this went on, the still amazingly stoic young man looked around in response to an alarming creak and squeak of the wooden support beams above and floor below. They were getting weaker by the second and if they went, the whole building would almost certainly go with it.

"Pick up the pace!" He exclaimed over to the old couple. He did feel a little bad for having to yell at the old couple, but there was really no time to waste on manners.

Once the children were secure in the belts and attached to the ropes; they hoisted up and lowered to the waiting men below. Despite the scared and worried faces of both the parents and the children, the kids reached the second floor without a hitch. After reeling the rope back up, the grandparents were harnessed next. Even with them initially refusing to leave each other's grasp and their own children, they wisely accepted the riggers belts and began getting ready. While this went on, the still amazingly stoic young man looked around in response to an alarming creak and squeak of the wooden support beams and floor. They were getting weaker by the second and if they went, the whole building would probably go with it.

"Pick up the pace!" He exclaimed over to the old couple, he did feel bad for having to yell at the old couple but there was no time to waste on manners.

Seconds later they were ready and hoisted up and then lowered towards the outstretched arms of the firemen below. However once they were unharnessed, the third floor quickly degraded with the loss of a sizeable chunk. The floor space was getting smaller by the second, and it wasn't helped with the stress placed upon it from the constant moving about and shifting of weight. The third floor occupants repeated the process of retrieval and harnessing. The mother and father were next, with the only difference this time was the father was cradling the family dog in his arms and the harness being wrapped around the both of them.

Things were starting to look dire with the ever encroaching flames and the quickly decaying floor. Thankfully there was just one person to rescue before himself. The seemingly calm adolescent hastily pulls up the rope that is soon starting to fray from the friction as it ran along the splintering overhead beam. Realizing this, the teen that was starting to panic on the inside but still maintaining his calm demeanour on the outside. Ignoring his desire for self-preservation momentarily, he began the routine of harnessing up the young faunus woman from the first room he cleared.

"A-are we gonna be okay?" She asked, fear clearly evident in her voice.

"We will be." He calmly replied. "Just stay calm and keep your eyes on me, okay, can you do that?" He looked her dead in the eye as he finished up with her riggers belt.

"O-okay. I can do that." The look from his eyes almost seemed to have an instantly calming effect on her, as she managed to say the last part fairly confidently.

What they hadn't realize that with the time they took preparing, was that the fire had managed to catch a length of the rope and was gradually working its way through the fibres. As the girl swung out and over the stairwell, she maintained eye contact with the smoke blackened teen just like he had told her to. However, their individual calm was very quickly broken by a very audible snap from above.

Everything seemed to go by in slow motion from that point. The long coat wearing teen quickly glanced up in reaction to the noise. The rope had inevitably succumbed to the flames and the sudden loss of a counterweight had made the young man fall to the floor. What transpired next almost made his heart stop. He recovered in time to see the girl disappear from his vision past the edge of the floorboards accompanied by a short but sharp scream. But, when the scream abruptly stopped; it was followed by very panicked and very much alive breaths. Breaking out of his stunned state, the teen quickly hopped to his feet and spied that the still flaming end of the line had snagged on a jagged plank jutting out from the floor.

He acted fast and dove towards the edge of the floor. He blindly threw his arm over the edge to grab any section of the rope that wasn't in flames. He could now see that the girl was in fact fine. She was a little shaken up and huddle up into a ball at the end of the rope, but otherwise unharmed.

"You okay?" He asked with a grunt. The heat was only just now becoming bothersome and the constant strain being put upon his body since entering the building in the first place was starting to show.

"Oh yeah, I'm peachy." she replied sarcastically followed by a nervous chuckle.

He couldn't help but smile at her reply. The girl's attitude was admirable despite her neat death experience. He looked over to his right to the still vigilant firefighters.

"I'm going to swing her over. Be ready to catch her, got it!"

"Got it!" They quickly acknowledged and one leaned out while the other anchored him.

Slowly, the brown haired teen began to drift the rope left to right and into a gentle swing towards the remains of the second floor landing. After a couple of well executed swings, the girl was close enough to the firemen for them to get a good grasp as she reached out to them. Bringing her safely onto the second floor and getting her out of the harness, she was escorted along with the rest of the group by one of the two firefighters and taking what only route they could which was hardly safe enough as it is.

The only occupant remaining now on the upper two floors was a barely standing teenager who was quickly being overcome by the unreal heat. Believing himself to be the last to leave he surveyed the platform below and deemed safe enough to withstand his weight as he landed, or so he thought he was the last. As he was about drop down to the second floor, he heard a sound. It was the worst sound he could hear at a time like this; he almost thought he was imagining it. The sound was faint at the most but even he could pick it up. It was a baby crying and by the sounds of it was coming from the next floor up.

_"You've gotta be kidding me."_ He thought.

He quickly navigated back into the hall towards the urgent crying and leaving the firefighter below without another word.

"Hey where ya goin, what's happening!?" the fireman yelled up at him only to be answered with silence on the boy's end.

Suddenly a rather large segment of the ceiling came loose and taking out part of the floor in front of the oblivious firefighter, the sudden jolt of the floor shook him out of his daze and he was now forced to retreat to the lower floor lest he be crushed by falling rubble.

Meanwhile back on the third floor, the now reinvigorated hero had more work to do. Quickly scurrying up the newly formed ramp from the ceiling of the family's apartment and homing on the infant's cries, which brought him to a door at the end of the hall. This door was already on fire and crumbling upon his arrival and was promptly cleared with a few swift swipes from his stave. Moving into the room that was falling apart around him every second, advancing straight towards the now very prominent cries and approaching a relatively untouched crib. Inside was the baby, it was still covered up in a couple of blankets and wearing a babygrow.

"Hey there little guy" he said in a cheery manner, a stark contrast to the backdrop and the incessant crying.

"What say we get out of here, eh?" He suggested mainly to himself as he reached down and cradled the baby in his arms and wrapping him with the blankets from the crib to shield him from the heat.

Choosing to quickly vacate the room sooner rather than later proved a sound plan as the room dramatically collapsed in on itself and dropped onto the apartment below upon leaving. He made his way back to the recent third floor access still carrying the baby carefully and quickly, only to be met with a sudden wall of flames erupting from the hole he came through. Taking a few paces back from the blazing wall, he looked around for any escape he could possibly use to not only save himself; but the young life in his arms as well.

After a momentary scan around the hall yielding no results; an old fire extinguisher that had fallen into neglect over the years ruptured and momentarily suppressed the flaming gauntlet long enough for the now noticeably worried teen to see a somewhat clear hallway and a window peering into the night's sky at the end of it. Taking another couple of paces back and taking a few deep breaths. _"This may be the dumbest thing I've ever attempted...I think." _He looks down at the baby who has been consistently crying out this entire time and moves a part of the blanket covering his face.

"You ready for this?" the boy asks in a calm voice followed by a chuckle, the babies crying only intensifies which he truly thought would be impossible at this point.

"Yeah, me neither." As if he understood the baby's thoughts on the matter and covered his face back up.

Being as prepared as he could be for this insane situation. He got into a stance ready to run, tucked the baby on the inside of his coat and waited for the fire extinguisher on the opposite wall to hopefully explode just like its counterpart had moments before. _"Any day now!"_ he thought angrily in his head. As if reading his mind the canister ruptured, spewing its contents as a haze to the fire below and for a short moment suppressing the flaming torrent yet again.

Seeing his moment he took off running at full speed towards the blaze that was quickly renewing itself and would soon cut off his only hopes of escape. Coming up to the gap, he sprang into a long jump and only just clearing the 6 metre gap to small section of floor overlooking what could only be described as hell. After regaining his balance from nearly overshooting the platform, he quickly hopped from beam to beam that was the remains of the floor that he so wishes was present. After sticking the landing on the final remnants of the hallway and the inferno engulfing the hall behind him; he continued his mad dash to the window at the end of the hall.

With each door he passed exploding with built up pressure from their each individual firestorm, he was forcefully blown forward from the combined concussive blasts and launched towards the window he had been chasing this entire time.

As he tucked himself into a ball and crashed through window, his hearing was welcomed by the sound of the still whirring sirens of the emergency vehicles alongside an audible combined gasp of the crowd below. Thinking fast as he descended to the ground below, he turned in midair so that his back faced the ground to protect the child still tucked in his coat and held tight against his chest. Then everything went black.

* * *

**(1st person)**

I was in total darkness, a dull and distant sound of a child crying in the background that was essential silent, looking around there was no source of light and yet looking at myself; I was illuminated clear as day. I remembered being blasted out of a window but not much after that.

"_Hey kid...hellllllooooooo, get up sleepyhead." _An elegant yet stern voice called out, seemingly out of nowhere and now being the only sound present.

"M-mom?" I hesitantly called out.

"_Who're ya expecting, Monty himself?" _The voice exclaimed in a more upbeat manner before a figure appeared before me.

The figure was my mother, still looking like she did all those years ago and she was around thirty-two years old then if I remember correctly. She had long black hair tied in a braided ponytail reaching down just past her hips, as well as pale blue eyes that were always stunning every time you looked into them, she was wearing a simple beige long skirt stopping just above her ankles so that you could just make out a pair of black leather boots; she was also wearing a simple plain white tank top with a blue denim jacket over the top of that.

"Well for a second I actually was, I take it I'm not dead then?" I asked casually as this is not the first time this has happened.

"No such luck there I'm afraid" she said still in her upbeat way as I slowly approach her and I sigh heavily before asking my next question.

"So, how are they?" I ask my mother whilst managing to smile weakly. She puts a hand on my shoulder and looks me in the eye with a soft expression on her face.

"They're fine, and they always will be." Her expression quickly turns back to a more cheery one. "Well besides Ish' missing her favourite brother."

"Heh, she has others?" I ask with a stronger smile now.

"Well, I did do a lot travelling both as a huntress and when I was working for that company; so who knows" she said with a very sly and evil grin plastered on her face.

"That's not funny ya know." I say as I half-heartedly glare at her.

"Ok, ok enough fun." she chuckles out whilst shaking her head. "Now I believe you have somewhere to be?" she knowingly asks whilst pointing with a thumb while her arms are folded.

I take in a deep long breath. "A hero's work is never done someone once told me." I tell her before moving past her.

She looks over her shoulder at me with confused look on her face. "That wasn't me that said that was it? Because there is no way I would come with something that cliché."

I throw and head and laugh for moment. "No that wasn't you, but good guess." I look back to see her tensed up in a sulky pout. _"Despite her age, she was always the most childish and yet still the greatest parent there ever was."_

"Hey, mom" I call back to her instantly make her come out of the sulk and turn to face me with a now curious expression.

"Hmm, what's up?" she asks coming up next to me.

"I, I miss you, all of you." I softly say in a shaky voice.

"We miss you to kiddo, we know you'll do use proud." She says in an almost motherly voice which is very out of character for her.

"I haven't forgotten, I will ave-." I'm stopped mid-sentence when she firmly punches me in the shoulder.

"No, no, no. Makes us proud by living your life, find yourself a nice girl, start your own family and all that jazz." She half scolds me and advises me while I rub where she hit me, who knew ghosts could hit that hard.

"I'll think about it, how's that?" I say trying to reach a compromise, in turn she very audible groans in exasperation.

"Why did you have to get your stubbornness from me, why couldn't you be more like your boring sensible father." she complains in a very childlike whiny tone.

"Well then parenthood would have been a breeze then wouldn't it and I know how you like a challenge." I retort back with a big grim slapped on my face as result of her reaction to my earlier suggestion. She quickly gathers herself and we shoot each other loving smiles.

"I'll see ya around kid" and with that she bid me farewell, the last thing I see is her signature two finger salute/wave before she faded into the darkness.

"See ya around." I say to the now empty space she was occupying.

With that the dull and distant sound of the child crying returned, which was soon accompanied by the low and staggered whir of sirens, soon muffled panicked yells followed each as inaudible as the next;

Then in an instant every previous sound became as clear as day. Slowly opening my eyes, I was greeted by the night's sky. _"Not the worst thing to wake up to is suppose."_ I slowly looked down and moved back my coat slightly and what I should have guessed earlier was of course the baby still crying away like there was no tomorrow; plus the staggered siren noise was coming from right beside me as I appeared to have landed on top of a police cruiser, crushing the roof along with part of the siren as well.

In an attempt to block out the light coming from the police sirens that were right in my face, I tried to raise my right arm only to have excruciating pain shoot straight up it. To investigate this I sit up very slowly whilst still clutching the baby in my one arm that worked and hanging my legs over the edge of cars roof. Before I could inspect my right arm, a crowd of EMT's with firemen and policeman flanking them quickly move in on myself and the police cruiser upon which I sat. They stop a few feet short of the cruiser hesitantly when I look at them. Only when I move the arm holding the baby forward does a woman push past the crowd of emergency workers.

"Please let me through!" she yells out with tears streaming down her face as she rushes towards me. But like the paramedic she also stops a few feet before me, it's only then do I fully take notice of her. She is in a slightly charred dressing gown with her hair tied up in a bun and wearing slightly cracked glasses.

"Here." I croak out in a very raspy voice, at this she leaps forward and snatches the baby from my arm.

"Thank you, thank you so much." She says with tears still flowing and shakily happy tone.

I shoot her a nod and a smile before she retreats back into the crowd reunited with her child. Only after do take a slow look around me at the medics, who were still looking on in awe of what had just transpired. Following a short and slightly awkward silence did they traverse the final few feet to the cruiser and proceed to help me down from my perch as carefully as they could manage.

* * *

Moments later I am sitting in the back of ambulance with one of the EMT's tending to my arm as it had been fractured in two places, both the ulna and radius had completely broken. Truth is though I didn't need the attention as my aura, or what's left of it had been working overtime ever since I woke up from the fall. With my coat off and revealing my arms, the paramedic got a clear look at the numerous scars running up and down them.

(mention not wanting to be hooked up to an EKG for fear of the paramedics wanting to be keep him here fro his own safety.)

"How'd you get these?" he asks me curiously whilst setting my bones back into place.

"Protecting a friend of mine." I respond cryptically without responding to the pain in my arm.

"Well, I hope they were worth It." he says as he finishes up with the sling and splint.

"More than you know." I mutter under my breath.

After he finished the treatment, he moved on to the other residents from the building that needed medical attention. As I sat in the ambulance people kept approaching the ambulance to give their thanks; including the girl from before who gave me a peck on the cheek in appreciation and I found it very difficult to suppress even the slightest blush.

The highlight though was when the fire chief approached me with the two firefighters that were in the building on either side of him. "Heck of a stunt you pulled there son." He said as he sat down next to me while the other two remained standing.

I remain silent and instead pull my stave out of my holster that is sitting next to my coat that's bundled up on the gurney docked in the ambulance and I begin to look it over for any damage; as I do this the chief continues.

"I also hear that if it wasn't for you, these two knuckleheads would've been toast." He tells me while he point towards the two firemen before me.

Satisfied that my primary weapon seems to have come out of the whole ordeal relatively unscathed I chose to finally answer him. "They showed the kind of fortitude and resolve that tends to decide who lives and who dies, you should be proud of them" I tell the chief.

"Oh believe me, I am. But even these guys have to know their limitations." He countered.

"But not you man, your something else." One the firefighters complimented.

"Hey with those kinds of skills you must be a huntsman, right?" the other inquired.

I hang my head low and look down at the floor. _"Something else, yeah that's one way of putting it, and huntsman? With the things I've done and experienced; I don't even deserve to look upon one." _I thought solemnly.

"Huntsman or not, you're a hero no matter how you look at it." The chief said whilst clapping me on my shoulder and getting up to stand with his men.

"Stick around would ya, I think the police commissioner who just showed up wants a word with you." He tells me before talking with his men.

"_Sorry but that's my cue to exit then." _I thought as I looked around for any quick exit nearby and grabbing my coat with my stave tucked inside.

"So where's this so-called hero vigilante that's being squawked all over the radios for last few moments!" asks the police commissioner to no one in particular in a booming, authoritative voice.

"He's right over here!" the fire chief calls out and waves over the police commissioner.

However when the chief turns back towards the ambulance, all he can see is a discarded sling and the splints, with the teenager nowhere in sight. "He...he was just here, I swear he was." he said in a flustered tone as the commissioner came up behind him and looked over his should at the empty vehicle.

* * *

**(back to 1st person)**

Moments later a few blocks away from the scene, the wailing sirens were barely audible. The flames, the crowd, the cascade of questions and everything in-between was now a distant memory as far as the boy was concerned. He ran down a dark alley with his coat tucked under his arm. It's not that he hated the police, but every time he had an encounter with them they always tried recruit him as some form of unofficial employment and that really wasn't his modus operandi...not any more anyway. Exiting out onto an empty street he threw his coat on and slung his stave now back in its holster over his shoulder and taking a moment to adjust the strap. As he walked down the street he was desperately trying to find somewhere peaceful just to sit down and rest for a moment, Monty knows he's earned at least that much. However the night had other use for the boy's time as he heard a fast paced running behind. Acting on pure instinct he whipped round drawing one of his pistols and shoving it into the face of what he thought was a simple, lowly mugger.

What it actually turned out to be was a very surprised looking boy, who had stopped dead in his tracks and his hands were quickly raised in reaction to the gun; he looked probably no less than four years younger than the tired trench coat wearing teen. This boy who clearly had a death wish was also sporting a rather unnerving toothy smile despite having a gun barrel pointed straight at his forehead. The younger boy had ginger spiky hair with a pair of goggles resting on top of his head. He was also wearing a leather jacket that looked too big for him and a grubby white vest underneath. Lastly he was wearing a pair tan cargo shorts and a pair of red converse trainers.

"Wow! You're fast. You're the guy that rescued all those people and jumped out of that flaming building right; well aren't ya?" he asked me without skipping a beat and completely ignoring the threatening situation. I can't help but give him an incredulous look and a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, I'm James btw." He introduced as he extended his hand towards me._ "This guy actually uses texts speak in everyday speak, good Monty what has the world come to?" _The brown haired boy thought as he cautiously lowered his pistol, holstering it and deeming the kid harmless. Completely ignoring the grubby boy's gesture, he continued on his way down the street.

Before he could even walk five paces he was stopped in his stride with the now named James jumping in front of him. "But my friends just call me Jimmy." He said continuing on as if the conversation, if that's what it could be called had never ended. The tired teen tried to sidestep him only to be blocked in every attempt by the annoying boy who incredibly was still talking, trying to get some form of reaction out of him.

"Hey! You found him." A voice called out form back down the street and quickly approaching the two.

Looking over his shoulder the teen could see a girl running up to them looking around the same age as the boy blocking his path. The girl now at James' side just about equalled said boy's height. She had dyed pink hair tied up in pigtails; she was wearing a yellow buttoned up shirt, a short plaid pattern skirt and a pair of what looked like girls school shoes.

"I told you he went this way." James told the girl as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, he looks back towards the teen. "Oh, this is my girlfriend, Amy; Amy this is...uh; actually I never got your name."

"Didn't give it." The brown haired boy responds as he forcefully pushes past the both of them. Taking the rude gesture in their stride and shrugging it off, the couple quickly catch up to him.

"So anyway, we've been kind keeping track of your exploits around vale and I just gotta say. YOU. ARE. AWESOME!" James exclaims as the couple moving in front of the slowly but surely agitated teen, who was again hindered in his journey.

"We're probably your biggest fans." Amy chimes in whilst hugging James' arm and bouncing on the balls of her feet. The teen only responded with a very visible glare that showed his annoyance at the two before continuing on his way.

"We couldn't but notice that you're doing this all alone, and we were wondering if you could benefit from a couple accomplices or sidekicks if you prefer." James suggested to the adolescent as he chased the tails of his coat.

After not getting a response James tried to push his point further. "Come on, if you keep this up your just gonna end up dead; ya gonna need people at your back, ya gonna need a team!" he virtually yelled out in excitement.

The hazel eyed boy suddenly stopped in his tracks and surprising the couple from the abrupt halt. _"That does it; I've had enough of this."_ He thought to himself.

Without any warning, he whipped around and struck James with a backhanded slap, which was strong enough to knock him flat on his back and sending a loud echo reverberating up and down the street. Amy quickly rushed to his and helped him to sit up. "Wtf man!" he yelled out while rubbing the side of his face.

"_Again with the text speak."_ He thought as he adjusted his coat collar.

"The only thing you will get if you team up with me is a quick death and leading up to that a life of nothing but misery and loss!" he yells down at the two now cowering on the floor and points at them to further emphasise his lecture.

"Are you willing to put yourself through that?! Are you willing to put her through that?!" he growled as he nodded towards the girl who remained silent shock with James sharing the sentiment.

"What if you had to watch her die in front of you?! What if she had to watch you die in front of her?!" he rounded off as he lowered his arm and somewhat easing the tension but only by a microscopic amount.

"Neither of you should have to go through what I went through, you aren't ready and you never will be." With that he turned around and left the couple on the pavement to nurse their wounds.

However Amy quickly rose to her feet and ran after the quickly departing teen for a short while. "Why'd you do what you do then? What's your problem?" she yelled at him as he turned a corner, hell hat no fury like a woman scorned after all.

After walking for another few blocks he spied something that made smile more than he had that entire night; a bench sitting in the middle of an empty square with another one resting at its back. Wearily shuffling over to the seat, he collapsed onto it, sprawled his arms across the back of the bench and let out a heavy sigh. He hung his head back and let the cool night air wash over his face, which felt like the greatest sensation in the world after spending what felt like an eternity inside the blazing building only moments ago. Slowly letting his eyes close he thought back the girl's words. _"What is my problem?"_ He pondered with another long exhale. _"Why'd I do it, the easy answer would be to protect them. but then I'd be lying to myself, most of what I've done has been out some sense of guilt or trying to hold onto some small scrap of Honour if I even had that to begin with."__  
_

"_Why do I do what I do?" _with that thought he began to think back over the years and the many people he had met, fought, befriended, loved and lost throughout those years.

"_Are you serious about this Aero Gainsborough?" _a gruff voice asked in his head.

"_What do you hate most Aero?" _another voice asked, this one stern and monotonous.

"_Congratulations mister Gainsborough!" _a proud, booming and somewhat regal voice said.

"_You're a great fighter and a true hero if there ever was one." _a friendly and insouciant voice said.

"_Aero, what do you love most in this world?" _a sweet and innocent voice asked.

"_You're still young Aero, you don't have to bear your burdens alone." _claimed a stoic and affable voice.

"_What do you fight for most in this world Aero?" _Asked a cool, calm and sensual voice.

"_Aero." _the collective voices called.

"_Aero?" _they called out again this time with more volume.

* * *

_Seven years ago..._

"Aero!" an elegant voice called out to a young boy looking over his shoulder to the one calling his name as he sat in a grass field with a backpack on and mountains in the background.

* * *

**Authors notes:**

**Ha! Cliffhangers! I hate them as much as the next person and yet there so fun to do when you're writing them.**

**The majority of this chapter was frustrating to write, what with having to keep referring to him by using his features or something similar just to maintain his anonymity and it quickly started to grate on me. Also I can't help but think that the whole burning building backdrop may have dragged on a bit, so give me your thoughts on that if you want.**

**Also if you have any queries or concerns about my choice in character name that some people have already addressed, I suggest you read the authors note a couple parts over.**

**Anyway tell me what you guys thought of the prologue as a whole of course, and if you spy any errors or mistakes ****let me know and I will address them ASAP. I should have the next chapter out relatively soon as I will have a lot of time on my hands in the coming weeks.**


	3. Chapter 1: Family

**AN: My plan for this story is to start with an origin story of sorts to show my OC's past, this means it will be quite a while before we get up to the time of the prologue. This doesn't mean that we won't see any of the main characters from RWBY throughout this first length of the story; he will have interactions with at least a couple before he arrives at the city of Vale.**

**Also just ordered a Blake figurine from the Roosterteeth store as well as a Flynt Coal shirt, so I'm feelin' pretty good right now.**

**Lastly I decided to rename the story as the original title just seemed far too depressing to me and I already have way too much gloomy stuff planned to occur as the fic progresses.**

* * *

Chapter 1: Family

"Aero!" An elegant voice called out to a young boy with short brown hair. He was wearing a plain white tunic, tan khakis and a simple pair of hiking shoes. While sitting next to him was a brown leather rucksack. He looked over his shoulder to the one calling his name as he sat in a grass field with a mountain range in the background.

Aero got up and turned to his mother who was calling his name from a gentle slope leading up to the field. "Over here!" He called back.

"Come on, we got a full day ahead of us." She said whilst waving him over. As he got closer he could see she was wearing her normal attire, (**Same as in the vision in the previous chapter.) **along with a small satchel at her hip. But the most noticeable thing was that she had her sword with her. He made a mental note to query her on this when they had a free moment but right now they had to get back to town.

He quickly ran up to her and joined her at her side. After a short walk through a field and down a dirt path a short ways they veered off and crested a hill. As they crested this hill they were welcomed with the site of their hometown, Verbist.

The town of Verbist was fairly isolated. With the only means of reaching it other travelling on foot was an unkempt dirt road and a sleepy train station amongst a dense forest that lies to the south and reaching around to the east and west of Verbist. Even then these means of getting to the town in their entirety were only available during the warmer seasons. The winters were short in the province but when they hit, they hit hard; making the train the only access available to the town and even then the journey was reduced to a snail's pace.

The town itself covered a little less than nine acres and had a cobblestone wall encompassing the entirety of Verbist, with the wall standing at a height of 12ft. Grimm weren't a big threat to the town as they mainly hunted around the denser, deeper parts of the forest; but occasionally a couple of Beowulf's or an Ursa would wander closer to the town. At which point the town's prefecture would dispatch them despite their small numbers, limited resources and training.

Over the centuries this town has certainly played its parts in history from being the site of a turning point in a civil war with the neighbouring province of Lenista; to sheltering Faunus that were fleeing the conflicts of the Human-Faunus war. When the war came to a close, many of the Faunus returned to their own hometowns. But a large handful of them chose to stay and were welcomed with open arms to lay down roots of their own.

When Aero and his mother came up to the gate he could see the town's crest emblazoned on the archway of the main gate. It was a knight's helmet on a field of blue surrounded by oak leaves. He always admired the humble escutcheon; he believed it showed that this was a town of heroes and he was right to think so. As they passed under the gatehouse a young and sleepy prefect in a guardhouse snapped to attention and saluted.

"G-g-good morning M-Mrs. Gainsborough." He blurted out nervously, not expecting her to pass through the gate this early in the day.

"At ease there, soldier." She said in a mock authoritative tone with her signature salute and putting the young trooper at ease.

Aero's mother was not in the prefecture, nor did she hold any rank or office of power in the town itself. The reason for the prefect's skittish behaviour was because she was Zafina Gainsborough, a highly skilled and accomplished huntress; but when she was at Beacon she simply went by 'Zee' as her teammates and friends called her. Due to her past experiences and training, the towns council often looked to her for some form of insight; usually regarding public relations or when the prefects ran into snags involving the Grimm becoming too aggressive.

As they walked through town, every so often one of the townsfolk or shopkeepers would express a greeting of some sorts or another and strike up a conversation with Zafina and Aero. Verbist, despite its larger than normal size, was still a close knit community with virtually everyone knowing everyone or having some kind of family tie to one another.

They didn't stay to talk to each and every townsperson that came up to them however, as they were running late as it is.

You see today was Aero's tenth birthday and he was going on a camping trip with his family and a couple of his friends from town. After picking up a few fresh provisions from the market stalls in the centre of town and storing them in Zee's satchel, they made their way to the northern gate. This exit would lead to the foot of Mt. Haine that towered over Verbist; the path would also take them to the Gainsborough household that was nestled amongst the woods at the base of the mountainside.

* * *

The walk through woods was uneventful and frankly it was starting to get uncomfortably quiet. Realising this Aero took this opportunity to ask his mother why she was armed.

"Hey, mom?" he timidly asked.

"What's up little man?" she said turning to him as they continued walking the dirt path.

"Why did you have your sword with you when you came and found me?" he asked now turning to her as well.

She stopped and put her finger to her chin in thought. "Hmm, honestly I didn't even realise I had it on me till now." She confessed as she reached back, drew her sword from her back, holding it out in front of her and pointed it skyward. "I guess it just becomes a force of habit whenever I leave town."

Aero took a moment to admire the sword and it's rather simple but elegant design. The best way to describe it would be an enormous broadsword. From tip to handle, it is approximately five to six feet long, with a single-edged large blade approximately one foot wide. On the blade itself near the handguard are two holes running lengthways up the blade and they are slightly raised and sectioned off from the rest of the blade. The handguard is the only part that has any distinguishing features with a gold colouring and a swirl designs etched into it. All of this being on the end of simple leather wrapped grip that, was nearly two foot long itself.

"Speaking of which, what were you doing all the way out in the fields anyway?" She questioned, breaking him out of his gawking towards her sword.

"I was looking at the sky." Aero muttered under his breath while looking away embarrassed.

"Pardon? I didn't quite catch that." She said as she returned the sword to the clip on her back.

"The sky, I was looking at the sky okay." He repeated turning back to face her.

"You know you can see the sky from anywhere right." His mother plainly stated with a confused and slightly concerned look. "I mean it's kinda all up there." she added motioning her hands upwards.

"I know but it's not the same when it's in town or something like that." He explains as he looks out amongst the trees. "Out there it's peaceful." He turns his gaze to the sky that was peeking through the tree canopy. "I can just look up, clear my mind and think things through without a care in the world." He concluded.

Without any warning whatsoever, Zee snatches Aero up in a spine crushing bear hug that she oh so loved to dish out.

"Now what exactly do you have to think through, huh?" She laughed out as his attempts to worm his way out proved futile.

"Stuff okay, just stuff!" He grunted out as the hug tightened.

Eventually she did release him from the death grip of an embrace. "Stuff like what?" she questioned with a grin as he gathered his breath from nearly having his lungs crushed.

"Like what I'm gonna do in the future, what I'm gonna do with my life; that kind of stuff, ya know what I mean?" he said finally getting his breath back as he sat on the ground.

Zafina shakes her head with a smile at her son's revelation. "You're ten years old, you got at least another four maybe five years before you even have to start thinking about what your gonna do with your life." She tells him as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

As she comes and sits down next to him cross-legged, she notices that he is staring off down the path as he's unsatisfied with that answer. "But yes, I do know what you mean." This catches his attention as she continues.

"When I was your age, I lived in the city of Keats with my parents and I went to school there as well; now something you have to keep in mind is that people in Keats were shall we say obdurate and not as open…" "What does that mean?" Aero asks interrupting her.

"Huh?" she says not hearing what he said.

"That word, obdurate, what does it mean?" He asks again.

"Oh, it means stubborn." She clarifies for him.

"You were reading one of dads books again weren't you?" Aero inquired with a weary sigh.

"No I wasn't." She retorted while Aero only raised an eyebrow at this poor defence.

"You can't prove otherwise anyway." She added and he couldn't help but snicker at her reaction.

"Were getting a little off topic here aren't we, now do you want to hear the rest or not?" Zee said trying to steer the conversation back around.

Before continuing on she reached into her satchel, pulled out a small bag of trail mix and grabbing a handful before offering the bag to Aero.

"Now what was I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted?" she joked in a mock regal tone whilst she reached over and tussled his hair.

"Oh yeah, anyway the people in Keats were stubborn and not as open minded as we are out here in Verbist." She picks up where she left off before throwing the whole handful of trail mix into her mouth.

"Now, it's not like the schools didn't teach me anything useful; but I found it extreeeeemely boring and I didn't really see it pushing me towards a career that I genuinely wanted to do." She mumbled through a mouthful of trail mix.

"Don't talk with your mouth full mom." Aero told her whilst talking small pinches from his own handful.

Taking a moment, she quickly chewed the dried fruit and nuts concoction and swallowed before turning towards him.

"Myaaaah." She opened her mouth wide as a child would to show that it was indeed empty.

"That's charming that is." He said in a deadpan manner.

"Hehe, you love it." She smiled beamingly.

"You were saying?" He smiled as well.

"Right, right." She took a moment and placed her hands on her lap.

"One day I finally figured out what I wanted be, and believe me that is a story in itself." She said softly as Aero only looked on in intrigue.

"Sometime during one of the breaks in the day I was walking around the playground which was relatively empty as it was, except for a couple of boys bullying a little Faunus girl with rabbit ears and from what I could gather it was simply because of those traits that they were harassing her." A small smile crept its way onto her face. "I wasn't gonna stand for that, I think I said something along the lines of 'Stop in the name of justice!' or something dorky like that; either way it got their attention." Aero had a look of bewilderment at the prospect of his mother saying something that corny.

"Now I bet your expecting me to say that I fought them off with ease and I lived happily ever after with the rabbit girl as my lover." She said casually only to receive a very disturbed look from her son.

"Ok… maybe not that last part." She quickly added with a nervous laugh.

"So what did happen then?" He eagerly asked in an attempt to sidestep a landmine of a conversation arc.

"Well I got it into my head that this was just like a story book, you know the hero standing up against far greater odds, standing up for the weak, fighting for what was right, and that's not a bad thing; it's just I prooooobably could have gonna about it in a much better way." She told him as she scratched the back of her neck. "Eventually they started to beat her and that's what set me off; I clocked one around the side of the head with a rock only to receive a swift punch from the other knocking me to the ground and dazing me." she told him as she took a sip of water from a hip canteen.

"With me being me, this only made me angrier and I didn't stay down for long; Now the odds weren't great to begin with so I didn't exactly look very dignified by the end of with a swollen face and bruises all over." She glided a hand over her face. "But I wasn't about to let that Faunus girl face them alone and besides you know how I can't resist a good ol' fashioned brawl." Aero smiled at the retelling of his mother's actions.

She pulls a sleeve back to look at her watch. "Come on, I'll tell the rest of the story as we walk." She suggests as she packs away the trail mix and continues down the path with Aero in tow close behind.

Zee looked back over her shoulder at him. "I won in case you were wondering."

He shot her a smile and jogged up alongside her. "I never doubted you for a second."

"Anyway I took my self and the Faunus to the school nurse to get the once over, she was seen to first at my insistence and sent on her way. However as I was being treated this scrawny little kid came running in complaining about a paper cut on his finger and was a nervous jabbering wreck because of it." She said with a large smile on her face.

"From the sounds of it this was a regular occurrence for the boy and the nurse's expression showed that each incident was as frivolous as the last. Turns out he had been in the library all day just reading book after book, and this had been his third trip to the nurses office that day!" she added with a hearty laugh.

"It doesn't sound like he was the smartest tool in the shed." Aero stated, voicing his opinion.

"Oh no he was smart, it just that he didn't have a lot of common sense; it was almost adorable in a way." she briefly pauses. "And that's probably why I married him." She added nonchalantly.

"Wait, what?" Aero said in disbelief. "That wreck you just described was dad!?" he questioned still flustered by this sudden realisation.

"You better believe it baby!" Zee exclaimed happily.

"But…but, but how?" He asked still having trouble comprehending this new information.

"He wasn't always the calm and capable huntsman he is today, in fact your father's first interaction with me was a horrific attempt at being suave and that was just plain cute." She stated matter-of-factly.

"If it's all the same to you, I'd rather not hear dad's attempts to woo you at this point in time and especially in the twisted version you'd give." Aero almost pleaded.

"Eh, fine by me. I'll just let your father tell it and that will be even more awkward and twisted let me tell you." She warned.

"Oh great." He grumbled out. "Can we get back to how you discovered what you wanted be now?" he whined.

She chuckled as his discomfort. "Alright, alright. So when my parents, your grandparents found out they asked why I got involved and why I didn't let someone else handle it. This really irked me. How could they suggest that I just stand aside when someone else needed help? As a result they kept trying to push me towards a quiet and safe job, something in an office or something stupid like that. But throughout all their efforts I kept thinking back to that Faunus and how relieved she was at being rescued and I won't lie it did feel good being the hero." After she says this a brief silence sets in.

"So, I applied to a combat school in Keats despite my parents protests. However your grandparents on your father's side, once he introduced me to them that is, were very supportive as they themselves upheld justice. Not as hunters or police mind you, but as a more secretive organisation but by no means any less noble." She explained as she picked up the walking pace ever so slightly.

"What kind of organisation?" Aero inquired as he matched his mother's pace.

"You're gonna have to ask your grandparents on that one, it wouldn't be my place to say." She responded.

"Umm, okay. So what were dad's thoughts on your decision?" he tried asking instead.

"He agreed with it wholeheartedly, even going so far as to apply along with me. Admittedly he did need some training and conditioning which I helped him with, but I didn't mind as it helped him open up and express himself. Once we were seventeen we applied to Beacon academy, managed to wind up partners on the same team and graduated with full honours. And the rest as they say is history." She concluded.

"I suppose what I'm trying to say is that even if you don't know what you wanna do with your life, life may find something for you to do." She summarised. "That made sense didn't it?" she asked with doubt in her voice.

"Yeah, I think I understood it. Basically, I can't just decide what I want to do, I also have to find something to do and then decide if I want to do that thing." He answered trying to make sense of it.

"More or less; but at the end of it all it is your choice and yours alone. Always keep that in mind." She told him.

"Ok, I will." He stated with a determined face. This was quickly broken however by his mother pinching his cheek.

"And remember to have fun ok. Because if you don't enjoy what you do; then there's really no point in doing it." She said with a smile as she let go of his face.

After that they continued walking and yet another silence set in and Aero was once again the one to break it.

"Hey, what was your emblem?" Aero asked with a hint of excitement in his voice.

"My emblem?" she responded with slight confusion.

"Yeah, I heard that each huntsman and huntress has their own unique emblem or sigil that can be used to identify that particular huntsman or huntress." He clarified with the excitement clearly present in his voice.

"Oh that, I didn't really bother with one initially. But my team kept nagging me to think of one or at least adopt one so I chose this." She says as she removes a ring from her middle finger and passes it to Aero.

The ring itself was made of silver and had an extra broad band in a cigar band style. The crest on the ring was a white heraldic shield with a pair of silver wings overlaying it.

After looking it over for a moment he handed it back. "What about dad's symbol?" He asked her as she put the ring back on.

"You know that necklace he always wears?" she answered.

"You mean the one with the lion on top of a cross?" he responded

"That's the one, that's his emblem. He always did admire lions for their bravery." She pondered.

They continued walking in silence for moment longer until Aero broke the silence.

"What about when you were gone all those times when you worked for that company, you haven't mentioned anything on that?" Aero challenged with a solemn expression.

Zee stopped and stood still for a moment.

"Oh…that, that wasn't a good time in my life, I thought I was gonna be part of something bigger ya know; help people on a grander scale. But as it turns the people that employed me had a hidden agenda and I wasn't gonna be a part of it nor was I gonna let 'em get away with it either." At this she went silent and her eyes showed sadness.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to upset you, I swear. It's just that when you were gone on company business I worried about you, so did Ishara." Aero interjected in a panic, afraid that he overstepped a boundary as he looked away.

Zafina walks up to him, quickly puts her hands on his shoulders and he looks up at her. "You could never upset me, ever ok. It's just, I lost a lot of friends to that company and they would have killed me as well if it wasn't for one good friend I made amongst the enemy." She tells him as she cups his cheek. "I'll tell you and your sister all about it one day, promise. But for now enough of all this serious stuff, we're supposed to be celebrating you birthday remember." She reminded him as she adjusted her sword on her back and turned back towards the path.

Forcing a smile onto his face Aero lead the way down the path. "Right. Oh and I'm gonna hold you to that promise!" He called back to her as he turned around and walked backwards a short distance before turning back forwards.

"I'm sure you will!" Zee said as she caught up to him. "And if it's any consolation. When I was out in the field before going on an assignment or something like that, I looked up at the sky a lot as well and you're right; nothing compares to when you're out in the country." She informed him coming alongside him and he could only smile in return.

Not long into the continuation of the journey, Zee looked down at her watch. _"Hmm, we're gonna burn too much daylight at this rate." _ She deduced in her head.

"Hey Aero." She proclaimed. "Yeah?" he replied. "Race ya home!" she yelled as she grabbed his collar, yanked him back and then took off running. After recovering from the sudden action he immediately followed after her in a full on sprint down the path and straight on to home.

* * *

At the foot of Mt. Haine, stood a modest two story manor house with a copse of trees separating it from the base of the mountain.

On the house' porch sat a nine year old girl with porcelain skin and she was resting her head in her hand that was propped up on her knee. She has short black hair that frames her face; her hair has an almost blue tinge to it that matches her eyes. She's wearing a beige shawl with a helix pattern running along a tasselled hem at the bottom. Under this she wore a simple blue T-shirt and a thigh length pleated skirt with a belt to go with it. Below she also wore thigh high socks, again blue; with a pair black fur lined boots.

However her face portrayed one of annoyance. _"Where is he?"_ she thought in frustration.

All she wanted to do was spend a weekend of fun with her brother and their parents, but of course he had to go and disappear like he always did every now and again. You see he was more than just her brother; he was also probably one of the best friends she could ever ask for, and it wasn't one those you're my sibling so I have to sort of relationships. No, they actually enjoyed each other's company immensely and one could always come to the other if there was ever anything wrong. There wasn't a thing she wouldn't trust him with and she was sure it was the same with him. In short they were each others best friend and nigh inseparable...most of the time.

Of course he did all the regular older brother stuff you'd expect, such as looking out for her when she was getting bullied and tending to her when she was sick or something of that nature. The bullying usually tended to revolve around her shawl and its tattiness, which was in a way was Aero's fault and was actually a result of when she was ill.

She thought back to that day, about two years ago she came down with a cold after she stayed out in the snow too long during one of Verbist's harshest winters and she was bedridden for days. She was well tended to but her fever just wouldn't break. With their mother out working for a company abroad and their father out to get specialist medicine from the clinic in the next town over; Aero was left to take care of her.

He did everything to make her as comfortable as possible, even if it was just being there and keeping her company. But with the constant fever she was sweating through sheets and blankets at an alarming rate and to get them washed and dried was a slow process. But as Aero was looking high and low for any fresh sheets, he came across something he had completely forgotten about. It was an old blanket from when he was her age and besides being a bit dusty was still in good condition. He quickly got it to her before she got too cold and she clung onto like her life depended on it, and as far as Aero knew in his young mind it might well have done.

Their father soon returned with a prescription of powerful antibiotics and the drugs had broken her fever by the end of night. When she woke up the next morning, Aero was huddle up in a chair next to her bed, he had stayed there the whole night and most of every other night. After this she carried the blanket everywhere and soon it was turned into the shawl she wears today. Aero always asked her why she held onto the 'tatty' thing as he called it and she always replied with that it showed how strong their bond was as brother and sister, plus there was the sentimental value of course.

She idly stroked the soft material of the shawl he gave her as a gift that day as she reminisced on their past.

"No sign of them yet Ishara?" a voice said from the doorway to her back.

"Nothing yet dad." She replied to her father as he made his way over to her.

"Well, don't worry." He told her as he sat down next to her on the porch. "I'm sure he's fine, your mother's with him anyway."

Her father had slightly shaggy brown hair, brown eyes to match, slight stubble on his face and he had a slightly skinny build. He was wearing an olive green dress shirt, white jeans and a pair of umber dress shoes. He was Ulrich Gainsborough and despite his somewhat city look he was actually born and raised in Verbist. He was also a very capable and deadly huntsman when he needed to be, a complete contradictory to his rather passive attitude.

"I wasn't worried, it's just that this is supposed to be his day and he should be here with us to celebrate it." She responded.

After a while Ishara reached into a small pouch on her belt and pulled out a brass pocket watch. She popped off the back panel and began fiddling with the inner mechanics of the watch.

"How's that thing coming?" he asked his daughter.

Ishara had always loved to tinker with anything mechanical from a young age and she took any opportunity she could to fix and or modify something. Whether it's the family car or her father's pocket watch in her hands, which she may or may not have broken herself; she wanted to know the ins and outs of it and how it worked. Her family showed nothing but encouragement for this hobby that she clearly had an undying passion for. The only time she was noticeably happy when she wasn't with her brother, was when she was in her room/workshop covered in grease or something of the like as she worked on her next creation or repairing something that may or may not have needed it in the first place.

"I just have to replace the stem and the crown, and then it should be good to go." She says as she retrieves a pin vise from the same pouch that held the watch; While Ulrich could only look on in awe at his daughter's intelligence and at such a young age.

She then proceeds to break the seal between the crown and the stem, and unscrews the crown slowly from the metal pin. She then takes a brand new crown from the pouch and replaces it before reassembling the watch with practised ease.

"That should do it, here." She says, handing the watch to her father with a proud smile.

He looks over the watch; flips open the lid and he sets it to the correct time before tucking it into one of his pockets.

"Thanks sweetie." He turns to her with a big smile and kisses her on the forehead as she returned her tools and parts to her belt.

"Hey you best start getting your pack ready, I'm sure Aero and your mother won't be gone much longer." He suggested. "Plus his friends will be here soon and you know that blonde one still has a crush on you." He teased her.

"urgh gross, don't remind me." She said as she adjusted her belt under her shawl.

A short while later Zafina came running out of the woods into the clearing at the front of the house with a breathless Aero close behind her. At this sight Ishara jumped up from the porch and ran towards them.

"Aero!" she yelled out.

"Found him!" Zee exclaimed before picking up Aero by the strap of his rucksack and waggling him from side to side.

She quickly put him down just as Ishara had reached them and tightly hugged Aero. "Hey Ish." He softly said to her using her nickname and wrapping his arms around her.

The use of the affectionate nickname that pretty much only he used always brought a smile to her face. "You were looking at the sky again weren't you?" she asked him in that cute way she always did as they broke off from the embrace.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He defended only to receive a knowing smirk from her. "Ok, maybe I was, maybe I wasn't." he half admitted as his face turned beet red from embarrassment.

His mother and Ishara both giggled at his reaction as Ulrich was strolling up to them. "Wasn't what?" Ulrich asked all three of them as he gave his wife a peck on the cheek.

Letting out a defeated sigh, Aero decided he might as well tell him himself. "I was out in the fields and I was thinking some things through. And to help clear my head I just look up at the sky." he explained to his father.

"You know you can see..." Ulrich began to say before Zee covered his mouth.

"I'll explain it to him." She told Aero with a smile. "Now go get yourself showered, changed and packed. We'll be leaving soon."

"Thanks mom!" He said before making his way to the house with Ishara following close behind him.

"What exactly were you thinking through?" Ishara asked Aero with a tug on his sleeve to get his attention.

"Just stuuuuuuff." He said dragging out the sentence and with a smirk.

"What kind of stuuuuuuff?" She said mimicking him in both phrasing and expression.

"seeeecret stuff." He replied.

"Seriously now." She said giving him a playful slam on the arm as they both laughed.

"Ok, ok. I was just thinking what I wanted to do with my life when I'm older." He answered her.

"You could've talked to me, I'm sure we could have thought it through together." She told him with a hint of frustration in her voice.

"You're right, I'm sorry." He apologized, seeing that his unexplained absence and that he didn't confide in her had upset her, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Tell you what, we'll have this whole weekend to think and talk about it, how about that?" he suggested.

She returned his embrace and leaned into him. "Sounds great, and I'm sure whatever you decide to do you'll be great at It." she said with a smile.

"You really think so?" he questioned.

"Mhmm, I know so." She responded with a nod.

"Thanks Ish." He said as they separated.

"By the way Aero." She said with a mischievous grin. "Happy birthday big brother." She lovingly said to him as she quickly reengaged the hug.

"Hehe, thanks again sis." He praised as he tightly hugged her back.

"Hey if I asked you what you wanted to be when you're older what would you say?" He added after breaking the hug but with her still hugging onto an arm.

After a moment of thought while they got inside the house and took of their shoes, she finally answered him. "Well, I love fixing and creating things. So I don't know maybe an inventor or a mechanic of sorts." At this he patted her on the head. "That sounds right up your alley." he said as she swatted his had away.

"Now go get ready, Luz and Andy should be here any minute." She sternly ordered him.

"Yes ma'am." He said with an exaggerated salute. "Luz still have that crush on you Ish?" he asked from halfway up the stairs.

"Shut up!" she yelled back as she threw one her boots at him and narrowly missing. With that satisfactory answer he left her and made his way upstairs to prepare for the weekend.

Aero quickly jumped in the shower and washed his hair and after the mad dash against his mother through the woods he needed it. A few minutes later he emerged and he could hear talking coming from outside through his window. Obviously his friends Luz and Andy had showed up and were having a conversation with his parents. Not wanting to keep them waiting, he quickly got dressed into a fresh set of clothes which consisted of a brown button up shirt and fresh pair of khakis.

Moving to his bed and going through the drawers built into it, he pulled out a pair of swimming trunks as well as a pair of gray cargo shorts and threw them onto the bed next to his rucksack. Walking across the room to a dresser and going into the middle and bottom drawers he took out fresh underwear and socks, a couple pairs of each. Finally going to his wardrobe next to the dresser he retrieved a maroon shirt with string tassel at the collar and two plain t-shirts. With all this assembled he began stuffing the clothing into his rucksack along with a few other essentials.

Satisfied that he had everything he would need, he grabbed his backpack and made his way downstairs. Coming down the stairs he could see Ishara waiting by the door with a rucksack of her own and ready to go. "You all set birthday boy?" she asked him.

"Give me a second." He told her as he put on his hiking boots. "And I'm good." He said making his way to the door.

They quickly joined their parents and newly arrived friends down the path a ways from the house.

"About time you two goofs got here." Aero excalimed cheerily to his friends.

"Sorry we got a tad lost." Luz replied.

Luz McCole was a somewhat skinny boy with short blonde hair and a tanned complexion. He was wearing cargo shorts and a yellow shirt with an open vest over the top. He also had a backpack that looked like he just bought it.

"Your house was never easy to find ya know." Andy added.

Andrew or Andy Drummer was a short and slightly pudgy lad which was a stark contrast to Luz's slim frame. Andy had wavy black hair that just about covered his ears especially when coupled with the baseball cap he was wearing. Apart from that he wore a pair of camouflage pants and a simple black tunic.

Apart from Ishara, Luz and Andy were Aero's friends. They both lived in the town, with Luz's Father being on the prefecture and his mother owned a small linen shop. While Andy's parents owned the best bakery in town in Aero's opinion, this would also explain for Andy's slight paunch.

"One of its many benefits alongside the natural beauty this place offers." Ulrich Proudly proclaimed referring to the house' isolated location.

"I can't fault you there sir." Luz respectfully agreed.

"Now if you're all ready we can this trip started." Ulrich suggested as he threw on a hiking pack and was now donned in more suitable hiking boots. "Lead on dear." He said turning to Zafina who now had a camping bag holding her families tents, it was secured over her sword still clipped on her back; while her own supplies were stowed in the satchel still hanging by her hip.

"Follow me!" she cheered before setting off down the path at a brisk pace.

"_This is going to be a birthday to remember."_Aero thought as he followed after his parents with his sister and friends alongside him.

With that they set off into the woods and the hills beyond running along the base of the mountain, not knowing what would befall all of them by the end of this journey.

* * *

**AN: Feels so much better now that I can refer to Aero by his name, it was a huge weight off my shoulders. So a lot of exposition and background here, there will probably be some action in the next chapter but not a lot of it mind you; after all he is still just a kid. Also as you may have noticed Zafina isn't the most conventional mother as she is more of a child than her own kids, but that only adds to her charm I think.**

**And what nice bit of bonding there we had, both with his sister and mother. There will probably be a bit of bonding with his father in the next chapter as well learning a tiny bit more about Luz and Andy. All in all, it's gonna be a pretty pleasant scene...I just might have to ruin it with something disastrous, because I certainly didn't drop any hints with the last paragraph oh no sir not me.**

**Now I don't have a sister, I have 2 older brothers. So I don't really have any experience on what a relationship with a sister is like, let alone one where the sibling is younger. So tell me if I portrayed the relationship between Aero and Ishara well or not.**

**Also a Trivia Question: Can anyone guess what Zee's sword, her ring, Ishara's Shawl, and Ulrich's necklace are each individual references to from their descriptions? Answers in the comments if you think you know.**


	4. Chapter 2: Dethrone

**AN: This chapter doesn't really need to be read in my opinion as it you won't totally lose out on any information related in later chapters; but it does add a little something if you do read. Also just a heads up things are gonna get a bit gruesome by the end of this chapter and it's not for the faint of heart in my opinion. **

**This chapter may seem somewhat confusing and maybe cryptic at first but bear with it, because I think I wrote it pretty well for what it's worth and I like to think that it's also a tiny bit Meta in my opinion.**

**Also send me some reviews, I'd like to know if the story so far is ok or not. I will keep writing regardless, but the reviews will motivate me and speed along the process.**

* * *

Chapter 2: Dethrone.

Darkness, that's all there is; an endless expanse of darkness with no end in sight. _"Where am I, what am I?" _I ask no one in particular. Particles of sound from a world outside my own reach my ears. I am awakened from a sleep and from a dream I won't remember, and I feel swaddled by an urgent deep cry echoing from outside my cocoon of black mist. I try to reach out and feel for anything, anything at all only to be restrained from any sort of movement. I feel constricted like I'm being crushed and it's only becoming tighter. _"Get out, Get out! GET OUT! I HAVE TO GET OUT!" _I think in a panic. Desperately I fight the unknown being try to suffocate me and after a moment of frantic thrashing, a jagged line of light appears before me.

I call out to the light, it doesn't answer. I try to move towards it and it widens by a small fraction. I grow impatient and throw myself at it forcefully, it widens by another fraction. For what seems like an eternity I continue to push against the barrier keeping me from the light. With my rage completely boiling over at being potentially trapped in perpetual darkness, put everything ounce of strength I could muster into a final push.

Suddenly I am engulfed in a cold, bright shouting light and the urgent deep sound from earlier increase in volume by at least five times. But this is all overlooked by an entirely new sensation, dry and fresh air! I slowly breathe in the enticing substance all around and let it fill my lungs. After a few long breaths I slowly pry open my eyes that I instinctively closed after being thrust upon this new environment so suddenly.

Feeling the surface in front of me, it was an uncharacteristically warm substance that flaked to the touch and mixed in with it was a slippery and odd smelling liquid. This odour was also coming from somewhere else, it took me a moment to realise it was coming from me as the same liquid slowly dripped off of my body. In an attempt to rid myself of this viscous fluid reflexively stretched out my arms and shook my body effectively shaking off any excess liquid that hadn't already fallen to the floor.

However, soon my attention was caught by the thing that had been constantly urging me on into this world. Finally looking at my surroundings of what seemed to be a deep cavern, with a miniature lake pooling at the centre; in the centre of this lake was where I was perched on a small rock island. I crawled my way down the island to where the water was lightly washing up against a smooth stone plate jutting out and over the water.

Resting upon this plate was something truly curious. It was a huge reptilian looking body covered in scales that all meshed together to form its armoured hide. Wrapped around itself in a lazy manner was its tail which was nearly twice the length of entire body and that ended in spiked mace. Its head had two large horns that ran off the back of the head and scooped up at the tips. The horns actually lined up perfectly with its head all the way to its lengthy snout. Its eyes were as red as the coating on the floor and looked as if they were made from evil itself. It also had spikes that ran along its back that rose towards the centre and got smaller towards the tail. Its hind legs and feet were covered in larger scales than its body and ended in razor sharp talons. But its front legs were actually part of a pair large of wings that had long arms running through them and long claws on the end.

However something was not right with this creature. As I got closer I there a steady flow of a red liquid pouring down the plate and into the water, dying the area it was flowing into a faint red. It was only then did I notice a somewhat huge open wound in its stomach. This was the source of this liquid and the reason for this monsters constant wailing. Getting closer it became aggressive and while I did feel threatened I also felt very excited at the prospect of a fight. Suddenly a thought hit me why was I here with this creature in the first place, I decided to look down and around at myself.

Looking back and forth between myself and the creature before me I realised we were one and the same albeit I was quite a bit smaller.

I approached my kin further and I immediately locked eyes with it as it shakily got up and loudly roared at me. But I knew with a wound like that it was powerless and this was proven further as it collapsed from exhaustion of the pointless effort of intimidation. Coming up to its wound, a smell flooded my nostrils. The aroma was nothing short of intoxicating, I took a few moments just to savour the smell alone. I lowered my head to the river that was still flowing like there was no tomorrow and lapped up a small amount of it.

Almost instantly I was hit with what could only be described as an absolutely euphoria. My senses became heightened beyond anything I doubt my body was capable of and my muscles that were barely capable of supporting my own weight were now effortlessly holding me up. This things blood whatever it is was clearly responsible and very powerful.

I wanted more, a lot more and I knew just where to get it. As I approached my stricken kin that was on death's door, it loudly bellowed at me. It still had a fair bit of fight left in it apparently and frankly it was becoming a nuisance. Before it had a chance to mount whatever meagre defence it had in mind, I was upon it. I latched onto its neck sinking my talons into the soft underside and squeezed with my newfound strength. The fresh cuts and added pressure made the blood hose out and stain my claws and legs. Just the sight of the blood was enough to drive me over the edge and sink my teeth into its neck. At this the creatures thrashing about increased. As I held it in place with my greater strength, I slowly brought my tail round by its head that was still thrashing from side to side in an attempt to free itself from my maw.

As I rose my tail up I could see too that it had changed as well. It ended in a spiked mace just like the other's tail, except mine had blades with jagged edges protruding from the sides of the head.

After a moment of getting used to the new weight of my tail and a few practice swings; I brought it down upon the struggling creature with a mighty swing. The first strike only dazed it momentarily before it roared back in anger. This was silenced by another swing, this one sounding out with a sickening crunch and huge wound on its head that bled profusely. Not taking any chances as well as a need to satisfy my own bloodlust, I brought my tail down upon it again in two quick consecutive hits. The final hit had completely caved in its skull and the scales had cracked down the middle with most coming completely loose altogether.

Satisfied that it would no longer be an issue I released my grip on its flesh. The only movement it showed were twitches in its limbs and around the hideously beautiful head wound. I savoured the taste of the large amount of blood I got from its neck and the splatter from the bludgeoning. The fresh taste was even more intoxicating than before driving me into a drunken stupor.

Most of the work had already been done for me with the open wound in its abdomen and its guts already spilling out. Not wasting a second longer I dove into the pile of entrails and gorged myself on the crimson bounty before me.

As I ate I could feel my body changing further from the power it was yielding. My bones begin to forcibly elongate and tear from the boundaries of my skin. My ribcage expands to twice its size and I feel my neck stretch and rip free from the skin. The blades on my tail also become bigger and expansive on the surface. The small spines on my back grew 3 times their individual sizes and new ones grew alongside these as well. My head extended further out and the horns lengthened accordingly. Lastly my fangs sharpened and actually pierced through a part of my mouth.

Throughout it all the pain had been nothing short of unbridled torment. But I didn't care as the raw feeling I was experiencing from consuming the still warm flesh now covering my skinless face.

I pull myself away from the red nirvana momentarily to look over the changes it has bestowed on me. I had grown at least double my original size on the whole. For first time I hesitantly flexed my wings out, only extending the arms a little at first. Seeing that they had grown as well and the wings skin had thickened, I flexed them out to their full length and they were nothing short of magnificent as they easily spanned at least fifty feet.

However the rest of my body was still recovering from the sudden change and taking a closer look this included the wings as well as small stretch marks were scattered along the flesh. Seeing this I quickly threw myself back into the pile of gore and gnawed, tore and devoured any bit of flesh I could see. Very quickly I could feel my body reacting to this and the outer layer of my muscles were drying out and forming skin. Not long after the skin had formed and dried had it hardened into scales and scutes all over the trunk of my body as well as most of the tail.

As I continued to eat I considered the size of the creature I was nestled in. I could only smile at the thought of becoming even stronger and larger from the sustenance the robust tissue on offer. With that thought in my head I continued with my feast for as long as I could before I became drowsy and sleep took me.

* * *

**AN: What is this strange new being that we took the perspective of? What did it just cannibalize? What will it do next? All of these question will be answered in due time….or you could PM with your guesses and I could just tell you if your right or wrong.**

**Apologies for the painfully short chapter, I was originally planning for this to be a much, much longer chapter with a jump back to Aero and his family but I thought I delayed this long enough, so next time we will be back with the Gainsborough family. **

**The reason for the delay is I have been distracted with doing concept sketches for my OC and finding the right way to write this chapter was challenging also.**


	5. Authors note 1

**May be slightly spoilerish ahead.**

**Regarding my OC**

**To clarify a few things:**

**The surname is derived from Thomas Gainsborough and as well as a county that I visit frequently in the north, even parts of the OC's appearance are based on some of Thomas' works.**

**As for the first name, that evolved from many different renditions of the name. starting out as Erin, then to Aaron, to Aerod and finally settling on Aero. after I even looked up the etymology of the name and also intend on incorporating that into the story for a much much later plot point if I can.**

Now some may have noticed a similarity in name between my character and another character from a quite popular game series (you can probably guess which). this is why I have tried to keep this on the down low and why this Authors note is labelled as a spoiler. the similarities are intentional, admittedly they weren't initially. the reason for this is because I plan on writing a crossover story much further down the line with my OC being an integral part of the story I am crossing over with.


	6. Chapter 3: A Birthday to Remember

**AN: A lot of this chapter is reminiscing and happy family stuff, which is starting to get boring. But please bear with it because the last segments will be more action packed and contain a lot of drama as well. A little warning though, things will get a bit intense in the latter half of the chapter so again probably not for the faint of heart.**

**No excuse for why this took so long, I could've had this finished a week ago before my memory stick decided to wipe itself. But on the plus side in that time my Blake figurine and Flynt Coal shirt arrived.**

* * *

A Birthday to Remember

It was already past midday as the Gainsborough family plus its guests made their way through the woods. Zafina lead the way after deciding to veer off the trodden path and giving her an opportunity to show off her speed. After leaving her pack with Ulrich who was lagging back with the kids, she went on ahead under pretense of 'scouting' and took off leaping from rocks to low hanging branches. Ulrich could only shake his head and chuckle at his wife's unbound exuberance at a simple hike.

A short ways back down the path, the rest of the group was busy navigating a rock formation resting against a steep hill. Aero had just reached the top of the formation that his parents had scaled in matter of seconds. Looking back down the formation he could see Ishara who had been following very close behind. She stopped on the shelf just below where he was on the rocks. "You okay?" He asked noticing she seemed a little winded.

"Yeah, don't worry about me, I'm good." She replied after a deep breath. "Here." Aero said offering her his hand.

Ishara looked up to her brother's outstretched hand. "Thanks." She said as she took his hand.

"I don't know how Mom and Dad managed to do this and still have enough energy to do their jobs?" she wondered as Aero pulled her up to his level.

"I'd put it mostly down to their training and experiences." He explained. "But I think a lot of it is that they looked after each other and stuck together, so that probably helped a lot." He concluded as he looked on at the path ahead.

"Hey, there's an idea!" Ishara cried excitedly as she bounced on her heels.

"Okay, okay, what's an idea?" Aero asked trying to calm her down.

"Well, ya know you were thinking about what you wanted to do with your life." She reminded him as she settled down.

"yeah." he hesitantly replied.

"And you were talking about Mom and Dad's training, so why not train to become a Huntsman?" she suggested.

He'd be lying if he said he hadn't ever considered it. At a young age he had always loved to listen to his parent's stories from their term at Beacon and the times after as fully fledged Hunters; and he always gave these tales his utmost and devout attention. But as he grew up he quickly learned of the effect it could have on his life if he followed the same career path as his parents. They had both lost friends and comrades in battle and the effects weren't entirely obvious on the surface, but even he could tell that these events had taken a very heavy toll on them.

"I don't know Ish, not sure I'd really be cut out to be a Hunter." He responded as he scratched the back of his neck.

"And why not?" She said with a stamp of her feet that somewhat surprised Aero as she had always been on the most part at least a calm and collected girl. "You're just as fast as mom, just as smart as dad and no one is more determined than you." She continued while she paced around the peak of the rock formation. "What I'm trying to say is that you could be a great Huntsman." She concluded.

"Who could be a great Huntsman?" A voice inquired. The siblings looked over towards the edge to that Luz had finally made his way up the formation and to the top with them.

Ishara turned back to Aero. "I was just saying that Aero could train to be a huntsman if he wants." She clarified.

"I think you're giving me too much credit there sis." Aero countered which caused her to puff out her cheeks in slight frustration.

"Don't sell yourself short there bud." Luz chimed in. "Ishara's right, I mean you do realize how fast you made it up here right?" He queried as he walked up to the pair. "It might have not been as fast your parents but still pretty darn fast." He added.

"Even still, I wouldn't be able to stare down a Grimm or-or lay my life on the line without a second thought." Responded Aero and leaving them silent.

"That's not true ya know." A voice said further along the rock face. The trio diverted their attention to see that Andy had at last joined them and was a little wheezy.

"What do you mean?" Ishara Asked as she turned to Andy.

"It was back when we first met." Andy exclaimed as he came over to the group. "I was being picked on because of my weight by a couple of kids a few years older than me." He explained as the rest of them listened intently. "I had gotten used to it by then, but Aero wasn't gonna stand for it." He continued as he nodded towards Aero, prompting the rest of the group to look towards him as he coyly looked away.

"Guys we don't really need to hear this now." Aero grumbled. "Come on, we need to catch up with our mom and dad." He declared as he hopped off the rock and started down the path.

The remaining three quickly followed and set into an even pace. Luz jogged further up the group and joined Aero at the head of their group, while Ishara lagged behind a little bit with Andy. "So, Andy?" she said coming up alongside him.

"Hmm?" he murmured looking over at her.

"What actually happened back then?" she inquired further.

Andy glanced forward to see that the Luz and Aero were far enough ahead and figured that they wouldn't hear. "Well, like I said Aero wasn't gonna stand for me being bullied." He reiterated and resumed where he was stopped. "Before things got violent I saw him at the top of a staircase leading to the alley I was in." he said recalling the events of that day.

* * *

_11 months ago…_

Aero had just came to an alley that he planned to take to get home faster after running an errand for his father in town. He was wearing a simple light blue tunic, a black pair of trousers and black canvas shoes. Upon entering the backstreet and coming up to the stairs that led down to the alley, he came across a scene that made his blood boil. There were two boys that looked at least a couple of years older than him and they had cornered another boy that looked about his age.

"Hey, what's going on down here?" he yelled down at the two elder boys from the top of the stairs.

They didn't answer let alone acknowledge Aero's presence. Instead they shoved the younger boy into the wall behind him and slapped him across the face.

"Don't do that!" Aero yelled at them with as much gusto as his eight year old lungs could manage.

This time they acknowledged him and turned to him. They looked up at him and stared as if sizing him up. They could easily tell that they had a couple of years on him and were more than a match for the smaller contender. They quickly laughed off his presence and turned back to the younger boy now slumped against the wall cowering in fear. They soon raised their fists and Aero could see this was going to go bad fast. Without even thinking and acting on pure instinct he leapt on top of the metal bannister of the stairs and dove off at the two bullies. He hit nearest one square in the back feet first and sent him careening into the wall in front of him. As he slumped to the ground with a painful groan the other boy turned to him.

"What the hell!" he said completely bewildered to what had just transpired.

"I said don't do that." Aero repeated in a low and slightly dark tone as picked himself up from the floor after his reckless stunt.

The boy in the floor rolled over whimpering and holding his that was gushing blood. "You little punk!" he cried out as he shakily stood up. "You broke my nose!" he muttered with a nasally voice as he held his nose.

Aero raised his fists in a block. "Leave him alone." He stated still in that semi-dark tone.

The second boy snapped out his daze and charged Aero. When the bully reached him, he swung a right hook at him and Aero countered by bobbing under the swing. Aero then quickly pulled away and stepped to the side as the bully launched a couple of quick jabs. As the second jab flew past him, Aero delivered a powerful overhand punch sending the bully stumbling back to his friend.

Aero knew he probably didn't stand much of a chance and wouldn't last long against the older boys especially with the odds stacked against him, but he wasn't going to stand by while they ganged up on the defenceless boy huddled up in the corner.

Still, something in his eyes made them hesitate to reengage him, something behind his fierce expression made them think again and reassess their situation.

The stumbling bully groaned in anger. "Come on, let's get out of here. They aren't worth our time." He said to the other bully as he made his way out of the alley. The remaining older boy let a grumble and then soon followed suit leaving the alley as well. And just like that they were both gone.

"Are you okay." Aero asked as he approached the boy in the corner.

The boy looked up slowly before nodding slowly. "Uh-huh, I'm fine." He timidly responded.

"Glad to hear it." Aero said as he extended his hand to the boy. "I'm Aero by the way, Aero Gainsborough." He introduced.

The boy took his hand and lifted himself up. "My name's Andy Drummer." He responded in kind.

"Nice to meet you Andy." Said Aero as he dusted himself off and looked at his elbow that had a scrape from the fall.

"Are_ you_ okay?" asked Andy referring to Aero's wound.

"Yeah, don't worry about it." He reassured him as he inspected the wound.

"Come on, my mom can get that seen to." Andy suggested but Aero seemed reluctant. "And she owns the town bakery, so you could probably get something to eat if you haven't already." He added hoping to sway him.

Aero ears pricked up at this. "The one on Kraven Street?" he inquired and Andy nodded with a smile. "Weeelllllllll if you insist I guess I could stop off for a moment or two." And with that they left the alley and back out into the town streets each with a new friend.

* * *

_Present day._

"And that was that." Andy concluded.

Ishara could only look on in awe. "Wow. So wait, why was he so dismissive of becoming a huntsman then if he if does things like that for people he didn't even know then." She questioned at her brothers unusual behaviour earlier on.

"Not really sure on that one, you'd probably be best off asking Aero himself on that one… or dropping the subject altogether." he stated as he wiped the sweat from his brow with his cap and place it snuggly back on his head.

"_I might just have to do that."_ Ishara thought to herself as she looked further up the path towards her brother who was chatting to Luz.

Slightly ahead of them Aero and Luz were making small talk and discussing relatively mundane things. That is until Luz asked a particular question.

"Sooo, what does your sister… ya know…like…to do?" Luz questioned carefully tiptoeing each word.

"What does she like to do?" Aero repeated with a knowing smirk but choosing to play dumb.

"Yeah, like hobbies and stuff like that." Luz clarified. Aero knew exactly what he meant but he loved torturing his friend.

"oooooh, riiiiiight." Aero said in sarcastic realization. Luz however was completely oblivious to Aero's hijinks as he was too busy trying to carefully word each coming sentence.

"So, what does she like to do?" Luz asked getting excited at the prospect of finally getting his answer.

"Well, she likes to fix things." Aero plainly stated.

"Fix things?" Luz' face suddenly grew pale. "You mean like…" He says as he makes a snipping motion with his fingers. **(I don't know what made me think of this little snippet, no pun intended.)**

"What!? No!" Aero quickly denies and playfully shoves Luz. "No, what I mean is she likes to tinker with things and fix things that are broken, mechanical things and the like."

"That…seems unusual for a girl her age." Luz said a tad surprised by her choice of hobby.

"That's what makes her unique and besides she's really good at it too." Aero pauses to consider the conversation and glances over his shoulder at Ishara. "Why are you asking me these things may I ask." Aero already knew the answer but he wanted to hear him say it.

"I may…kinda…like your sister." Luz nervously stated again choosing his words carefully.

"_Bingo, about time he came out with it."_ Aero thought to himself in triumph. "Really; like, like-like my sister?" He inquired trying to hide his smugness at getting Luz to finally come clean.

After taking a short moment to think it through, Luz responded rather shakily. "Y-yeah." this caused Aero to stop in his tracks and Luz turned to face him with a confused expression.

"Well in that case, I'm very sorry for what I'm about to have to do." Aero plainly and solemnly stated.

"Huh?" Luz exclaimed not knowing what was about to occur.

In less than a second Aero had closed the distance between them and was right up in Luz' face. "I'm going to say this once and only once, got it." He stated in a grim tone and Luz could only nod in a panic. "If you hurt her or do anything to upset her in any way, I. will. destroy. you. There isn't a force on this planet that will save you from me, you got that." He finished and again Luz could only nod in a panic. "Good." Aero added and returned to their previous spacing.

Luz took a moment to recover from the very out of character lecture from his oldest friend. "Dude, the hell was that?" he asked still a little shaken.

"Sorry, that was the mandatory big brother speech that I am legally required to give to anyone wanting to date my little sister." Aero told him with a chuckle which somewhat calmed Luz down showing he might not have been serious, 'might' being the key word there.

"So does that mean…its ok then?" Luz asked hopefully.

"Ball's in your court now buddy." Aero answered back with a smile and immediately a smile appeared on Luz' face as well.

"Thanks man, come 'ere you!" Luz yelled as he trapped Aero in a hug.

"Okay, okay, calm down." Aero Said as he tried to pry Luz off of him.

"Sorry, sorry. You're the best friend a guy could ask for." Luz uttered still a little giddy from the approval.

"So I've been told." Aero responded as he straightened himself out from the sudden embrace. "But remember what I said, because if I don't get you she will. And while she may seem sweet and innocent on the outside, she can be absolutely terrifying when she's angry." He warned.

"I think I can handle it." Luz remarked with a confident smile.

"Your confidence is admirable, but even still probably best that you don't poke the bear." Aero warned again.

"Hey what are you guys talking about?" they looked over to see that Ishara and Andy had caught up with them.

"Nothing important Ish; Luz here was just wondering if a person has ever been born without a body." Aero told her trying to throw her off the anything that would make her suspicious. While Luz just looked over at him with a horrified expression.

She looked on with a slightly worried expression while Andy only raised an eyebrow. "Uh Luz, you feeling okay?" asked Ishara.

"Uh yeah, I'm fine." He nervously states before he leans over to Aero. "What are you doing to me man?" he whispers to him.

"Sorry, it was all I could think of on such short notice." Aero whispered back with a smirk as they broke off from one another.

"You kids okay back there!" a voice called over to them. They all turned to see Ulrich stride up to them.

"Were fine dad, just trying to keep up." Aero responded in a faux fatigued tone.

"Looks like you're doing alright so far. Come along now, it's just a little bit further. Your mother's found a good place where we can camp." Ulrich said with a smile as he ushered them up the path. Ishara and Luz followed him closely while Aero lagged behind a few feet with Andy.

"What was that really about Aero?" Andy Inquired; suspicious of his friends excuse.

"Oh, just the usual." Aero replied.

"Luz' finally going after Ishara." Andy deduced.

"You know it, took him long enough right?" Aero acknowledged.

"Your tellin' me, did ya give him the speech?" asked Andy.

"Absolutely." Aero responded with a pump of his fist.

As they fell in behind the rest Aero thought back to the day when Ishara started her first year at his school and when she first met Luz.

* * *

_14 months ago..._

It would be safe to say that Aero had been ecstatic when he learned that Ishara; his little sister would be going to school with him. He had it all planned out, they would take the same classes, he'd help her with her homework, probably have to defend her from the occasional bully, but mostly run, play and learn together till day's end. Aero and Ishara were making their way through the streets of Verbist with Ishara being hardly more than two feet behind her brother and because this was Ishara's first day, their mother had accompanied them.

Aero was wearing a plain brown shirt with white cargo shorts and a pair brown hiking shoes; while Ishara was wearing a plain blue dress with her shawl over the top and a pair of black plimsolls. They both also had their own backpacks; Aero's was his trusty leather one and Ishara's a small white canvas backpack.

"You two got everything?" their mother asked from a few feet back.

Aero looked back. "Yeah I think so." He told her.

"Ish, what about you?" she redirected her question. Only for Ishara to turn and timidly nod earning a worried smile from her mother.

Aero suddenly stopped and turned to face his little sister. "Hey, I know you're scared. I was too on my first day, but I'm gonna be right there beside you now okay." He softly told her and it seemed to reassure her as a small smile appeared on her face and one of her dainty little hands clung on to his shirt sleeve.

"P-promise?" she stuttered out in voice barely above a whisper.

"Of course, whenever you need me I'll always be by your side." He responded in a cheery tone. With that they continued on their way with Ishara still clinging onto Aero's sleeve and their mother in tow with the proudest smile for the entire town to see.

When they arrived at the school, the grounds were bustling with parents dropping off their kids for the new term and friends reuniting after the holidays. It was safe to say this was all a very intimidating site, especially for little Ishara. At the front gate Zafina was looking over both her children, making sure they really did have everything they would need.

"You sure you got everything?" She asked both of them as she was fussing with Ishara's hair and straightening out her dress. All the while Ishara still had a faint look of fear on her face.

"Mom, you don't have to worry." Aero assured his mother as he came up beside Ishara. "She'll be fine. Like I said, I'll be right there beside her." He added. Ishara stepped aside and waited by the school gate so her mother could look Aero over.

"You better stick true to what you said there." She remarked as she adjusted one of his rucksack straps.

"I will, I will." He responded in an exasperated tone.

"I mean it Aero; you know she thinks the world of you." She sternly told him.

"Mom, I won't let anything happen to her. What's got you so worried, this isn't like you." Aero said noticing her rather unusual demeanour.

"Sorry, sorry. It's just that Ish is a very shy girl, you know that." Zafina said as she crouched in front of Aero. "I guess I'm just scared she's going to get bullied or not speak up when she needs to, what if she falls behind the other students." She rambled out stressfully.

"Mom calm down, She's stronger than you think." Aero assured her. "You were like this on my first day and I came through that alright. And Ish is gonna have me looking out for her on her first day." He told her with a point of the thumb at himself.

"You're a good son you know that." She told him as she adjusted his collar. "And an even better brother." She added with a big smile and he couldn't help but smile back at what she had said. "By Monty, you're gonna break so many girls hearts when you're older." She remarked absentmindedly.

"What do ya mean?" Aero inquired.

She chuckled at his innocent question. "Heh, don't worry about it sweetie." She told him and he disregarded the comment.

"Still, probably gonna have to deal with a few bullies maybe if she keeps wearing that tatty thing." Aero remarked with a sigh referring to his sister's shawl.

"Hey, that's enough of that." His mother responded with flick of his chin. "The only reason she wears that 'tatty' thing as you call it; is to remind her of her hero." She told him.

"Uuuurgh, don't remind me." He groaned as he looked away.

"Aero, look at me." She said softly as she turned his head to face her. "I'll tell you the funny thing about heroes. A hero never strives nor asks to be one; a hero understands the responsibility that comes with his or her freedom; a hero fights against the darkness even when it seems futile because that's just who he or she is." She continued as her eyes softened. "But sometimes the chips fall where they may and you just have to roll with the punches, okay." She told him with a beaming smile.

Before he could respond he was distracted by a tug at his sleeve. He looked over to see his sister at his side. Their mother got up and took a step back. "Alright let me get a look at you two." She said as she scanned her eyes over the both of them. "Hmm, not too shabby if I do say so myself. Here let me get a picture." She said as she took out her scroll. Aero took Ishara's hand which caused her to smile and in turn making him smile. "Perfect!" their mother exclaimed as she took the picture. "Now run along or you're gonna be late." She said as she returned her scroll to her pocket. Before she knew Ishara had rushed up to her and hugged her as tight as her petite hands could manage. Zafina kneeled down, wraps her arms around her daughter and gives her a kiss on the cheek. "You have a good day and listen to what your big brother tells you, okay." Ishara happily nods back before returning to Aero's side and snatching up his hand.

"You ready Ish?" He asks her.

"Y-yeah, I think so." She replies in a delicate tone. With that answer they left their mother at the gate and walked into the school hand-in-hand.

Zafina remained at the gate and looked on at her two children as they made their made through the school grounds. She shook her head and laughed. _"Dammit, why is this bothering me so much. It's just a first day at school; I'm becoming such a mother." _She thought happily to herself.

The school morning went by without a hitch. Ishara and Aero had the first two classes together. Aero offered to help Ish with her work but was almost immediately rejected. As she was managing just fine; excelling even. Ishara may not have been the most socially active person in the world but when it came to getting work done she was second to none and it's not that she didn't want the help it's just that she didn't need it. With this knowledge Aero could tell that everything was going to be alright, this was a load off his mind considering he wouldn't be with for her last lesson before lunch. That is until it came to the aforementioned lunch period.

Aero had met up with his friend Luz whom he met on his first day exactly a year ago today and they had been as thick as thieves since.

"Good to see you again Luz." Aero greeted as he sat down next to him with his lunch on a bench in the school grounds.

"It's good to see you too Aero." Luz replied as he took a bite of one of his sandwiches.

"And how was the 'Shining city of Thatcher' may I ask?" Aero inquired. Luz had spent the school holidays away with his family in the city of Thatcher. The city itself had earned the moniker 'Shining city' because it liked to brag that it was the most technologically advanced city in the province.

"Not as shiny as it thinks it is. It was all too robotic, the place had no emotion." Luz replied with a sneer. "Not like Verbist, you had the right idea staying." He added now with a smile.

"Oh I don't know about that. Verbist is great n' all but it wouldn't hurt for a change of scenery" Aero responded after he chugged down his juice box like it was air.

"Well why not try Lenista, that's within walking distance." Luz suggested while unwrapped a chocolate bar from his packed lunch.

"A Verbistan wandering around Lenista, yeah I can see that ending well." Aero remarked sarcastically before wolfing down his sandwiches in record time. "That civil war may be long over and the two towns are now at peace. But a lot of people still hold grudges." He added as he got up to throw his rubbish in a nearby bin.

"Tell me about it. My dad is always having to deal with some sort of rowdy Lenistan who thinks they can start a revolution." Luz said as chewed the last of his chocolate bar.

Aero turned and leaned against the bin. "You still thinking of joining the prefecture?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think it's all I'd really be good at." Andy remarked as he screwed up the wax paper that held his lunch.

"Well regardless, I think Verbist would be lu-." Aero was stopped mid sentence by a thud in his back. He looked over top see Ishara clinging onto him and sobbing into his shirt. "Ish, what's wrong?" he asked her as he turned to face her and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Who's that?" Luz asked as he came up behind him.

"My sister, she just started in the new year." He explained. "Ish, look at me." She slowly craned her head up to look at him with tears streaming down her face. "What happened, did someone hurt you?" he asked, his voice laced with concern for his baby sister.

"She went out here!" an angry voice echoed out from the courtyard entrance. Two boys quickly ran out and halted a few metres short of Aero and his sister. "There you are!" one of them yelled. Ishara buried her head into Aero's shirt with a whimper and continued sobbing.

"Is there a problem here?" Aero asked the two boys with a hint of anger in his voice as he guessed these were the ones responsible for his Ishara's current state.

"Yeah, this little brat wouldn't let us copy her work. Now we have to stay behind after school to do it!" he angrily stated as he pointed at Ishara who burrowed further into her brother's chest.

"So basically, she refused to do your work for you. Is that right?" Aero surmised as he looked back down at his sister who was still crying into his chest.

"Yeah, now hold her still while we teach her the importance of sharing." They said menacingly as they cackled and cracked their knuckles.

"That true Ish?" He tenderly asked her. She looked up at him with her eyes still watering and a quivering lip. He didn't need an answer; he could see it in her big blue eyes. "Okay then." He whispered to her and kissed her on the top of her head. "Get behind me." He told her and she quickly shuffled behind him.

"What is she, your girlfriend?" one the bullies asked.

"Sister, actually." Aero clarified as he rolled his shoulders and took a step towards the two boys. "And you fella's just made the biggest mistake of your-UNF!" Aero was cut short when one of the bullies socked him in the face sending him back a few steps. Aero recovered quickly and wipe his face with his shirt sleeve. His nose was bleeding profusely and his sleeve came away bloody. "Like I was saying, the biggest mistake of your life." He finished in a dark tone with gritted teeth as he swiped his arm away and sending a few blood droplets to the ground.

"Whatever, you're outnumbered. Now why don't you step aside before you get _seriously _hurt." Said the bully that delivered the punch.

"Then how about we even the odds." Luz announced coming up beside Aero who nodded in appreciation at his loyalty.

"This doesn't concern you." The other bully warned.

"Well when you assault my friend, it kinda does." Luz retorted.

"Don't say we didn't warn you." One of the bullies said.

"Duly noted. Now, shall we?" Aero stated with a sinister smile as he raised his fists in a guard with Luz quickly doing the same beside him.

Not wasting another second, the bullies rushed the both of them and split off to handle their individual targets. The one that charge Aero was about the same build as him but he seemed light on his feet. Aero threw a jab at him and he simply sidestepped it and grabbed Aero's arm as it went past. Getting a firm grip with both hands he dragged Aero past him and elbowed him in the jaw before shoving him away. This momentarily surprised Aero as he wasn't expecting him to be that nimble, but he quickly gathered his wits and instead decided to let the lightweight make the first move. He didn't have to wait long as the bully launched another charge. Aero waited until the last second before making his move. Just as the bully was a foot away from him, Aero dropped down to a near crouching stance and used the bully's momentum against him and sent the bully flying over his body and onto the floor. However the bully recovered quicker than he thought and grappled with Aero catching him off guard but not immediately overpowering him. But the sudden retaliation did allow the bully to fit in a few punches during Aero's hasty defence efforts. Nonetheless Aero would not give an inch that he could hold; these guys threatened his sister and on the inside he was acting on rage alone.

Meanwhile, a few metres away Luz was all the while busy evading his bully constant blows. Considering his had a much larger build, he figured he would try and tire him out and then make his move. It's something his father taught him in preparation for the prefecture, which to make your enemies strength work for you and in this case it was his size. After a few more wild swings, the brute's motions soon became sluggish and he was breathing heavily. Seeing his opportunity Luz grabbed a hold of the bully's collar before he could do anything. Once he had a firm enough grip he looked over to Aero who was slowly gaining the upper hand in his grapple. "You ready!?" Luz called over to him.

"Born ready!" Aero replied before he landed a couple of quick jabs and momentarily dazing the agile boy locked in his grasp. Using this momentary lapse to his advantage he seized his collar just as Luz had done with his. With an exchange of nods from one another they took their individual catches and ran them at each other and bonk their heads together before letting them fall to the ground out cold.

By the end of it all four boys had at least a couple of cuts and bruises on their person, Luz coming out best having only taken a couple of punches from the outset of the brawl resulting in a light bruise on his cheek; while Aero had two large bruises forming on his face, his nose that refused to stop bleeding and had absolutely soaked his shirt by now and a small graze next to his forehead.

"You okay?" Aero asked Luz as he dusted himself off.

"I should be asking you that." He said referring to Aero's face where bruises were quickly starting to show.

One of the bullies started to stir. Aero quickly came up to him and dropped his elbow in the middle of his back sending back to the floor. "shhhhh, sleepy time for you." He serenaded.

Both Aero and Luz took a moment and noticed that a small crowd had gathered to watch the brawl and the teachers of course took notice. Before the two still standing boys knew what hit them they were snatched by their ears by said teachers. "CRAP, CRAP, CRAP!" Aero muttered out.

"AGGGHHHHHHH!" Luz groaned.

All of them including Ishara were sent to the principal's office. After a heavy verbal scolding and a short while in the nurse's office; their individual parents were called to come collect them.

Later out by the front gate Aero, Ishara and Luz were waiting for their parents to show up. Aero was talking to Luz while Ishara was leaning against the low wall connected to the gate. She had been teary eyed and forlorn ever since she found Aero in the schoolyard.

"Thanks for that back there." Aero praised his friend for backing him up.

"Hey dude, I'll always have your back and besides it was actually kinda fun." Luz told him.

As Aero looked over Luz' shoulder at Ishara he saw the two bullies walk out of the gate. They stopped when they saw that he had noticed them. Aero and Luz moved closer to Ishara still sitting on the low wall. The two pairs of boys tried to stare each other down for a moment, until Aero did a fake lunge in their direction causing one the bullies to falter and stumble to the floor while the other simply retreated a few paces. Aero scoffed at this cowardly behaviour that they now exhibited before they fled down the street towards their own waiting parents. He joined Ishara sitting on the wall. "How you doing Ish?" he asked in that gentle tone he always showed when talking with her.

Without saying anything she pulled her legs up onto the wall and hugged them to her chest. Once she had her balance she leaned on Aero's shoulder and closed her eyes with a sniffle. Aero wrapped his arm around her shoulder with a sigh and a relieved expression.

"Hey Ish, this is my friend Luz McCole." Aero said gesturing to his friend standing in front of them.

"H-h-hi, i-i'm L-luz." He managed to stutter out as Ishara slowly opened her eyes and looked at the boy curiously.

"Luz, buddy you feeling ok?" Aero inquired as Luz stared awkwardly at Ishara.

"Hi, i-i'm Luz." He repeated in an awkward daze.

"You already said that." laughed Aero as Ishara let out a little giggle that caught his attention.

"Hey, there she is." Aero stated seeing that his sister had cheered up a little. She blushed and hid her face behind her shawl out of embarrassment and the two boys chuckled at this cute behaviour.

"Luz, Time to go!" a voice called out. All three kids looked over to see a man walking up the street in a prefecture uniform.

"That's my dad, I'll see ya tomorrow." Luz said as he walked off.

"See ya then." Aero replied whilst Ishara just timidly waved as she poked her head up from behind her shawl. Little did Aero know was the feelings that Luz would develop for his little sister and the comically lengthy time it would take for him to Confess to anyone, regardless of it already being obvious to almost everyone in town.

The two siblings sat on the wall leaning against one another for a while until Ishara started to fidget in his hold. "Something on your mind?" Aero asked with a sigh.

"I'm sorry." She choked out with another sniffle.

"Beg ya pardon?" he asked looking confused.

"If I had just given them what they wanted then this wouldn't have happened to you." She told him in a shaky voice as she looked up at him and reached up to place a hand on his swollen cheek.

He gently took her hand from his face and covered it with his other hand. At this she started to tear up again. "And where would that have gotten you?" he asked her as she looked back at him with sad and teary eyes. "Ish, if you gave in they would never have let up and that's not right." He told her as he wrapped his other arm around her and bringing her into a hug. "I'll tell you something grandpa told me once. He told me this after my first day and believe it or not I had my fair share of bullies as well." He continued.

"I can believe that." Ishara giggled out and Aero lightly pinched her cheek causing her to yelp. "Hey, quit it!" she cried out.

"As I was saying, what he told was that bullies would always back down when they were afraid. Back down from the heroes that faced their fears, those who stared down the dragon and stood their ground...those were his words, not mine. I don't know why he included dragons." He concluded.

"It's ok, I understood it. Thank you." She said with a big smile as she leaned up and quickly pecked him on the cheek before placing her head at the crook of his neck.

"Glad I could help." He said with a smile as she curled up and started to doze off.

A short while later Ulrich came jogging up to the school gate and found the two still sitting on the wall with Ishara sleeping peacefully against Aero's shoulder. "Sorry I'm late. Your mother was supposed to meet you but the council needed her professional opinion on something." Ulrich explained in a hushed tone so as not to wake his daughter up. "Is she okay?" He softly asked.

"Just sleeping. Today took a lot out of her." said Aero.

"What do ya say we get you two home?" Ulrich suggested as he made his way to Ishara's side and gently picked her up. She stirred a little but didn't wake up and instinctively clung to her father.

"Sounds good." Aero happily agreed springing off of the wall.

"Now I'm gonna put on a serious face and you're going to have to look sad until we're far enough away from the school. Because I'm supposed to be mad at you and we gotta fool the teachers somehow; but I am proud of you, you did good son." Ulrich told Aero as they walked down the street.

"Got it...and thanks dad." Aero said keeping pace with Ulrich.

"And you certainly have the bruises to prove it." Ulrich said looking over to Aero as he came up beside him.

"No telling what mom will say though, you should've seen her this morning." Aero said in a glum tone.

"Oh I wouldn't worry too much about that." Ulrich assured him as Ishara shifted in his arms slightly. "She'll probably end up telling stories about every scar and bruise she got in school." Ulrich surmised.

"Oh joy." Aero remarked in feigned happiness. He and his father shared a laugh at this, both knowing how Zafina loved to over exaggerated stories of her 'proudest moments' at the drop of a hat.

"Hey, how about when sleeping beauty here wakes up; we stop off for some ice cream." Ulrich suggested

"Ok!" Aero immediately replied.

"And you of course will be paying Mr. Hero." Ulrich told him cheerfully.

"Sure!" Aero agreed again without hesitation.

"Hehe, I was actually kidding Aero. I'll pay, you done enough for one day I think." Ulrich told him, clearing up the misunderstanding.

"Well, don't say I didn't offer." Aero casually retorted.

"Heh, I'll keep it in mind." His father snickered back as they made their way to the town centre

Aero had rarely got in trouble at school before today and he was sure it would almost certainly not be the last. But if it meant keeping his sister and his friend safe, well...he didn't mind getting into trouble every now and then. Not long after that day Aero approached his grandfather who visited on a bimonthly basis and asked him a favour. Aero asked him to train him in at least some basic hand-to-hand techniques to better defend himself. Aero would defend Ishara no matter what; but it didn't mean that he had to suffer a bloody nose each time. The elder happily obliged seeing the child's determination to stand up for what was right. Ever since that day Ish' confidence had skyrocketed with the unwavering support of her brother and the occasional comic relief from Luz that always brought a smile to her face. In just a few months she had grown from a fragile and shy girl into a girl that stood up for herself even when vastly outnumbered. Although she may have need her brother's help on occasion it didn't stop her from facing those seemingly insurmountable odds and to be honest it gave Aero an opportunity to put his new skills to the test.

* * *

_Present day._

Aero thought back to his mother's words that day when she left them at school. '_A hero never strives nor asks to be one'_. That he'd be okay with. The real question would be could he take the punches if he needed to, both physical and metaphorical.

Aero had been reminiscing so long that he didn't realise they had come to a clearing where his mother was already setting up camp with his father quickly joining to help.

"Anything we can do?" Aero asked.

Zafina having just finished setting up her tent stood up and made her way towards the treeline. "There absolutely is!" She exclaimed happily. "Luz and Ish why don't go and gather some firewood, there should be plenty lying around in the woods." She told them as she gestured to the trees around her. "While you and Andy help your father set up the rest of the tents." She said turning back to Aero.

"What are you gonna do?" Aero inquired into his mother's intentions.

"Me? I'm gonna go catch us some dinner." She responded before once again taking off into the trees leaping and bounding from rock and low branch.

"Ooooookay." Aero quickly intonated. Luz and Ishara dropped off their backpacks with Aero and Andy before they went to gather the firewood.

The camp was set up quite quick and in a simple fashion. The clearing was next to a stream running through a rock bluff that connected to the mountain. They had three tents in total meaning it was two per tent and the tents themselves encompassed a small fire pit which was the first thing to be dealt with upon arrival.

The camp was setup in matter of minutes and once Ishara and Luz returned with the wood everything was soon squared away. As everyone was getting their personal effects into their shared tents, Zafina returned and her excursion proved bountiful. "I come bearing gifts!" she hollered as she strolled into camp.

"What'd ya get?" Aero asked poking his head out from inside his tent so see his mother sauntering up brandishing a dead wild boar like a scarf.

"Take a guess." Ish said with a smile who was sitting in front of him, securing a tent peg.

"~And noooooo hints~." Z added in a sing song voice as she posed with the beast around her neck making it obvious. The three of them laughed at the scene that anyone else would probably find peculiar.

Due to the long hike through the mountains, the sun was quickly slipping behind the mountain's summit. Everyone migrated to and gathered around the fire pit that was now roaring. "Okay Aero, it's your show now." Zafina exclaimed.

"Right, right." Aero responded as he stood up from the circle they had formed and leaving everyone else to talk amongst themselves. He made his way over to the corpse of the boar his mother had caught.

He knelt down in front it and scratched his chin in thought. _"There's plenty here to last the whole weekend. Could make a stew or fry some pieces with some rice and for breakfast make bacon out of what's left. Even then we probably wouldn't get through it all" _He thought to himself analysing his options. One of Aero's most recent hobbies has been cooking. He hasn't done anything too extravagant, but he did use whatever he could get his hands on and experimented with that. Long story short, most turned out good while others were a more acquired taste.

"Here." Ulrich said kneeling beside him and stopping his train of thought. Aero looked over at him and then down to see he was handing him a folding hunting knife with a redwood handle.

"Thanks." Aero smiled. He took the knife and got to work gutting and filleting the boar. A short while later he had the choice cuts all gathered in a bowl they brought, had washed his hand and the knife in the stream before returning to the group. He sat down next to his father. "Thanks again." Aero said handing back the knife.

"No, you hold onto that." Ulrich said pushing the knife back into Aero's hand. "Aaaannnd you might as well have this as well." He added as he reached behind him and pulled out a leather hunter's belt with a box-frame buckle, a couple of pouches and a holster for the knife. "Happy birthday son." He said happily as he handed him the belt. Aero eyes lit up as soon as the belt was revealed. Without saying another word, he took the belt, quickly buckled it up before folding up the knife and slotting the blade into its new home.

"It fits perfectly, many thanks." Aero said with a two finger salute.

"Ooh! Ooh! Are we doing presents now?" Zafina asked to no one in particular in her usual childlike manner whilst Aero was still standing adjusting to his new belt.

"Go ahead dear." Ulrich said to his wife who was bouncing in her seat like a hyperactive kid. She scrambled over to her satchel resting by hers and Ulrich's tent and was standing at attention back with the group.

"Happy birthday kiddo!" she merrily said, slightly out of breath from the sudden and frantic rush to and from her satchel. As Aero sat back down she handed him something bundled in a white cloth. He gently unwrapped it and as he did he realised the wrapping was actually a cotton scarf. "Made from the best linen in the area." She revealed.

"Oooooh, so you got it from my mom's store." Luz interjected with a smug look.

"Uuuuuh, yeeeeeaaah." Zafina nervously stated. _"crap."_ She chided internally.

"Well, either way I love it, thanks mom." Aero said as he draped the scarf around his neck. His attention was then drawn to what the scarf was actually holding. What it held was a small wooden box that fitted in the palm of his hand. "What is it?" he asked.

"Open it." His mother coaxed.

He opened the lid of the box to reveal a fine brown powder inside. He took out a small pinch and inspected it closer but was still confused as to what it was.

"That is a mixture of all the known premium spices in all of remnant." Zafina explained.

"Wooooaahh." Aero gasped out expressing his awe.

"Figured you'd want it now so we can start dinner off right." She smiled.

"A dinner that I'm cooking." Aero retorted with a smirk.

"Like I said, start it off right." She reiterated. Everyone shared a laugh at this.

"Heads up!" Luz got up and suddenly called out as he chucked something to Aero who he fumbled with it for minute before getting good a grasp on whatever it was. He opened his hand to reveal a brass lighter. He flipped the top and sparked it on the first try. "You never know when you're gonna need one of those in a bind." Luz said with a grin.

"Thanks man!" Aero stated as he came up to him and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Before I forget, this is from my mom and dad." Luz went on and retrieved something form his pocket and furtively placed it in Aero's hand. Aero looked down at what his friend had place in his palm. It was a patch with the Verbist escutcheon embellished on it. He looked back up at Luz questioningly. "My dad told me to tell you that there's a place on the town prefecture if you want it and my mom made this for you as a sort of honorary thing." Luz explained.

"It's a quality patch and I will seriously consider it." Aero told him.

Aero tucked the lighter in one the pouches on his new belt and placed the patch in his back pocket as he would store it in his rucksack later. Before he could return to his seat though, Andy approached him. "This is from me." He said as he withdrew something from his backpack. It was a canvas hardback journal. "I don't know if you ever had a need for a journal, but I thought you could use one anyway." He said handing him the crisp almanac.

"I'm sure I'll think of a use for it, don't you worry." Aero responded. "Thanks very much." He said with a smile as he extended his hand which Andy graciously shook.

"Aaaannnd this is from my parent's bakery." Andy stated as he removed something else from his backpack, this thing was wrapped in tin foil. "It's a lemon and banana cake made fresh before I left." Aero didn't catch the last part because he was too busy already fantasising about the cake. He could still remember when he first stepped foot in that bakery, he never wanted to leave. A few feet away Zafina was salivating as she too only had cake on the brain at the mention of it. Zafina and Aero both made a zombie-like reach for it until Ulrich spoke up.

"We can have that AFTER we've had dinner, but not a moment sooner." He said sincerely. Zafina and Aero both audibly groaned at this but accepted it nonetheless.

Aero returned to his seat next to his father. "Aaaaannnnd laaaastly." Zafina chanted before looking to her daughter sitting next to her. Ishara silently got up and sat back down next to Aero and she had in her lap something wrapped in paper.

"Here you go." She softly said handing him the parcel and he offered a warm smile in return.

"Thanks Ish." he responded taking the package from her. He slowly and carefully un-wrapped the gift and discarded the paper. In his hands was a quite thick leather bound book with a simple one word title with gold lettering. "Drood." He said the title aloud and savouring the word.

"Yeah, it's about a writer that survives a disaster but soon learns that it may be a conspiracy. But he also has to consider whether or not he can continue to trust his closest friend and fellow writer who chose to help him as he hunts down the man behind the disaster." She explained her voice clearly showing her nervousness. "I didn't know whether you would be into that sort of thing or not." She added as she fidgeted in her seat and fiddled with her hair.

Aero couldn't help but smile and laugh inwardly at this adorable behaviour as he dragged a hand down the book cover admiring its quality. _"I never thought she'd be this nervous about whether I liked her gift or not. Heck I'd have been happy with the thought alone"_ Aero thought to himself. "It sounds great Ish, I'm sure I'll love it." At those words she calmed down a little and relaxed. "I could read some of it to you later if you want?" He proposed as he set the book down with his other gifts.

Ishara smiled and gently hugged his arm. "I'd like that." She quietly answered as she stared into the fire.

"Now, how about we get some dinner started!" Aero proclaimed with a cheer.

"Yeah!" everyone replied happily and a fist pumped in the air.

The dinner was relatively simple with the meat being stir fried alongside rice and vegetables brought from town. Aero even threw in a pinch of his new spices which made the meal nothing short of incredible. The cake they all had a piece of after was practically inhaled being gone in an instant.

* * *

Because of the trek taking a considerable toll on their bodies, everyone was too tired to do anything much after dinner. Thus everyone unanimously opted for an early night and retreated to their tents. with Andy and Luz to one, Zafina and Ulrich to another, leaving Aero and Ishara to take the last tent.

While Ishara had stepped out to answer natures call, Aero had changed into his maroon shirt and dressed down to his boxer shorts. He was busy packing away his birthday presents from the day into his rucksack when Ishara re-entered the tent in a hurry. She was wearing pink long pyjama bottoms with a purple tank top and she took off her boots that she had put on when she went outside.

"Cold out?" Aero asked knowing full well that the temperatures dropped pretty low at night and especially in the mountains.

"F-f-freezing." She chattered out before diving into her bedroll and swaddled herself in her blankets. Aero could only look on and laugh as he continued packing his rucksack. Ish slowly wormed her head out her blankets and look across at Aero. "Hey, Aero." she whispered only showing her face from the wrappings.

"Hmm, what's up?" he responded as he got on his bedroll having packed all but the book Ish got for him.

"Is it okay of I give you one more present?" she asked softly with those cute eyes she always sported.

"I don't see why not, go ahead." He smiled as he slipped under his own blanket but remained sitting up.

Ishara stuck an arm from her blanket cocoon and fished around in her pack lying next to her. After a moments rummaging she finally found what she was looking and pulled it back into the blanket with her.

"Got it?" Aero asked with a raised eyebrow, curious as to what she had retrieved.

"I got it." she responded looking back at him with a smile. After taking a momentary glance at the space separating them she rolled herself across the tent and over to Aero's bedroll whilst still being bundled up in the blankets. He caught her to stop her rolling too far or rolling back across the tent.

"You good?" he questioned with a grin at her peculiar travel method

"I'm good." She replied. Satisfied that she wouldn't be rolling away anytime soon

Ishara shuffled her arm back out of the blankets and placed something in Aero's hand as he presented it. What lay in his hands was puzzling at first. It was a crudely made tan rag doll that fit perfectly in the palm of his hand. The doll had a dress made from scraps of cloth that matched Ishara's shawl, even its hair matched hers and the eyes were little buttons that were sewn on with uneven stitching. He looked back at his sister still wrapped up in the blanket with a confused look.

"I think I'm a little too old for dolls don't ya think" he chuckled out which earned him a disgruntled look from Ishara as her smile dropped.

"That's not why I gave it to you." She growled in frustration and ducked her head into her blanket in a pout.

"Okay, then why did you give me this?" he said sincerely seeing that she was trying to do something heartfelt.

"Promise not to laugh anymore?" she asked, her voice slightly muffled by the blanket.

"I swear upon pain of death, that I Aero Gainsborough will not laugh." He said with a grin as he raised his hand. Ishara giggled at this over the top gesture as she poked her head out from her bundle.

"Good enough." She said as her laughter died down and she shifted on the bedroll. "Earlier today I was thinking back to when I was ill that time and you gave me your old blanket from when you were a baby." She told him as she shifted again. "And now I always wear it to remind me of you; well I just thought that I could give you this to remind you of me." She expressed timidly. "I know. Kinda dumb right?" she added with a half-hearted chuckle trying to negate her earlier nervousness.

"No. no, actually it's very sweet." He smiled at her. "But I don't need this to remind me of you." She looked at him confused. "I could never forget my best friend and only sister and that's a promise." He added as he wrapped an arm around her in a hug and she shyly buried her head in her blanket again, trying to hide her blush. Aero snickered at her undeniably cute reaction. "Now, how about we get started on this book?" he suggested.

"Thought you'd never ask." Ishara said bringing her head out from the blanket for the umpteenth time. She curled up against Aero and looked down at the book resting on his knee as he opened it up to the first page. But her focus was quickly taken by something else on her mind_ "now or never I suppose" _she deliberated in her head. "Aero?" she mumbled as her eyes glazed over.

"Hmm?" he murmured as he read.

"One more thing." She said turning her head slightly

He let out a sigh. "Ya know at this rate we're never gonna get to read this." He complained.

"I know, I know. It's just that I talked to Andy about that day when you first met him." She confessed.

"Oh?" he exclaimed having an idea of where this was going. He set the book aside and Ishara looked up at him.

"Why were you so against becoming a huntsman if you did what you did then? Not to mention all the other times you stood up for someone without question." She questioned staring at up at him.

"It's not that I'm against becoming a huntsman." Aero clarified scratching his cheek. "Okay, What I'm about to tell you doesn't leave the tent, alright?" he told her and she just made a face that made him feel silly for even asking as it showed his secret would be safe. "To tell you the truth….I'm…scared." he tried to choose the right words but decided in the end to be blunt. Ishara looked at him with concern as he continued. "I'm scared that I won't be able to protect anyone from the bigger threats in the world. I'm scared that I'll be a disappointment. I'm scared of losing those I hold most dear. But most of all, most of all I'm scared of dying." He grimly said whilst staring into space.

Ishara looked on in shock before suddenly burying herself in Aero's chest and bursting into tears. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know." She threw herself into a panic feeling absolutely terrible for not dropping the subject initially. "I shouldn't have pried it out of you, please forgive me." She whimpered through her sobs.

This had caught Aero completely off-guard. He stroked her head and looked down at her. "Ish its okay, I told you of my own free will. I couldn't really keep my mind on much else after I had a talk with mom." He told her in an attempt to soothe her.

Ishara pulled away from him. "What kind of talk." She said wiping away a tear.

"We talked about her childhood and where she grew up. We also talked a little about her time as a huntress as well." He explained.

"And?" Ishara queried.

"And I realised I wasn't that dissimilar from her when she was at school when I looked back over the fights I got into at our school. So what I'm saying is that I'm not absolutely a hundred percent disinterested in being a huntsman." He went on. "Don't get me wrong the fear is still there; I'd probably be crazy if it wasn't. But I realized the good I could do and that'd be worth it I think." He speculated.

Ishara took a moment to think over what he had just said. "Well, if you do become a huntsman. I want you to take that doll and use it as sort of like a good luck charm. That way I'll still be with you and protect you at the same time." She proposed.

"You got it." He vowed. "Wait, does that mean I shouldn't use it to remember the name of that girl. What was her name, Asha, Anaya or something like that?" he said with a big grin. Ishara playfully slapped his shoulder.

"Shut up and start reading." She said with a smile of her own as she huddled closer to Aero as he picked up the book, placed it back on his knee and opened it back up.

"Okay, chapter one." He started.

_My name is Wilkie Collins, and my guess, since I plan to delay the publication of this document for at least a century and a quarter beyond the date of my demise, is that you do not recognise my name. Some say that I am a gambling man and those that say so are correct, so my wager with you, Dear reader, would be that you have neither read nor heard of any of my books or plays. Perhaps you Elysian or Mistralian peoples a hundred and twenty-five or so years in my future do not speak the common tongue at all. Perhaps you dress like Tottenkhoi, live in dust-lighted caves, travel around in airships and communicate by telegraphed thoughts unhindered by any spoken or written language._

_Even so, I would wager my current fortune, such as it is and all future royalties from my…_

Aero continued reading till the end of the chapter when he looked down to see that Ishara was completely out cold and lightly snoring away with a smile on her face. He slowly tucked the book away into his pack and gently picked Ishara up. She squirmed a little at first but quickly settled in his arms. He set her down back on her own bedroll and brushed back a strand of hair obscuring her face. "Sleep tight Ish." He whispered with a smile before returning to his own bedroll. He reached over to turn off the dust lamp situated between them before settling down and letting sleep take him.

* * *

Meanwhile, higher up in the mountains something dark skulked around a rock field before climbing atop a larger rock and wrapping it tail around the entirety of the rock upon which it sat. The night obscured the subject's finer features but it was clearly large and definitely not human. A viscous substance was seeping from its mouth and dripping to the ground below where it momentarily ignited and partially illuminated the creature; showing off its scaly features that had blood reddish tint as well as its jagged horns sweeping off the back of its head. The creature had a steely gaze, but looking out at nothing in particular. Instead all it did was sniff the air for a moment before suddenly turning its attention to a small group of rocks a few yards away. It stared over at the rocks for a moment and saw what it had smelled. A boar came trotting out from between two rocks in a mad dash. The creature sat on its perch and waited a moment to let the pig run as if toying with the animal. After letting the boar run around for a while which was much to serpents amusement; it finally took off with flap of its huge wingspan and flew low over the boulder that the boar was scampering to and fro in a grassy valley that declined slightly.

Before the wild boar could dash into another bundle of rocks it was viciously snatched up by razor sharp talons and flung against a rock wall splattering blood up the surface. The stricken animal slid down the wall leaving a red streak and squealing in pain throughout it all. It fell in between the valley wall and a large boulder, thus becoming the proverbial stuck pig that it was. The winged beast landed on the boulder next to the pig and stared down, eyeing it curiously. This prey had quickly become a bore to hunt and its flesh was hardly as delectable as the wyrm's last meal back at the cave; but it sustained him and it was a good opportunity to develop his hunting methods. Seeing the bleeding sow before filled him that same bloodlust he had felt before, whilst he knew it wouldn't be the same as the before; the anticipation had remained unchanged. Delaying no longer, serpent leapt from the rock and pinned its meal with one of winged claws sending the boar into a wilder panic. At the moment after this, all that could be heard was the tearing of flesh, the crunching of bone and the fading squeals of a hunted prey.

Moments later the winged hunter climbed back onto its perch with blood dripping from its chin and parts of its face. After a momentary flex of its wings it settled down on its rocky throne. Before he could comfortable though another smell caught his attention and his head shot up. This smelled just like another boar but it had another scent wafting alongside. It smelt new, powerful yet vulnerable, and he wasn't going to pass up this opportunity to become mightier. His eyes lit up with a fire and a hiss escaped his mouth as the tantalising aroma filled his nostrils. Without a seconds hesitation he slithered off of the rock and crawled through the rock maze with incredible speed, desperate and eager to hunt down this new and intriguing quarry.

* * *

The next morning was a bright and very warm one at the campsite. When Ishara and Aero awoke the first order of business was for Aero to reread the parts of the book Ishara was asleep for and after some minor persuasion on her end he agreed despite his drowsiness. Aero soon left the tent to get breakfast started and give Ishara a chance to straighten herself out.

It didn't take Aero long to get the fire relit, what with the abundance of firewood and kindling collected from yesterday and the use of his new lighter. He brought out with him a wooden box and inside was a bed of salt. However what lay on top of the salt were thin cuts of bacon from last night's cuts.

Zafina soon emerged from her tent and her hair was sight to behold. It was nothing short of a mess to put it bluntly with clumps sticking out in every direction possible. She stumbled across the camp ground in a daze having not completely woken up. She's wearing black sweatpants, a plain white T-shirt and her usual boots that were lazily tied. "G'morning." She yawned as she plopped down across from Aero with the fire between them.

"Morning." Aero smiled with amusement at her ensemble. "Have you seen the skillet?" he asked.

She grumbled at this. "Murrgh, it's in myyyyahhhh pack." She mumbled as she began to drag herself back to hers and Ulrich's tent.

"Need a hand?" He offered only to have her wave it off. He smiled at her behaviour. _"She has never been a morning person."_ He thought as he poked the fire with a stick.

When Zafina had re-entered her tent, Andy and Luz came out of their tent and Ishara soon emerged as well before all gathering around the fire pit. "Would you like some bacon with your salt?" Luz remarked with a chuckle referring to the box in Aero's lap.

"You don't know what that is?" Andy said chuckling at Luz's ignorance.

"What? What is it?" Luz asked slightly confused.

"It's a way of curing the meat, makes it so that it doesn't spoil as fast." Ishara explained as if it were common knowledge whilst she patted down a cowlick in her hair.

"Huh." Exclaimed in surprise and slight nervousness due to what he said earlier. "Well I guess you learn something new every day!" he said shrugging off the embarrassing situation whilst slightly red in the face. They all shared a laugh at this.

Zafina and Ulrich exited their tent a moment later, with Z twirling the skillet in her hand and Ulrich carrying his backpack. They strolled up to children who were still laughing around the fire. "So what has chef prepared for us this morning?" Zafina asked as she passed the skillet to Aero.

Aero got up and stood as a butler would. "Today I will be making a rare delicacy. Using the meat supplied to us by our very own resident huntress." He said gesturing to his mother who smiled in return. "Eggs bought fresh yesterday from the fine city of Verbist and bread baked fresh by the Drummer family. I will be attempting to make the world renowned..." he paused for emphasis. "Bacon and egg sandwiches!" he finished. Everyone let out a whoop and laughed at this over exaggerated performance for such a simple meal.

Aero went to work and retrieved the bread and eggs from his father's pack. The breakfast so straightforward he worked like a machine; scooping eggs and bacon into everyone's waiting slice of bread as they were put forward.

Afterwards, everyone made their way down to the stream to get cleaned up while Ulrich offered to stay behind and get everything cleared up. Ishara and Zafina went further downstream and past a large outcrop so they would have privacy while the rest stayed near the bank. The boys were just finishing up and Aero and Andy were already dressed in fresh clothes they had brought down and getting ready to head back to camp. However Luz suddenly heard a lot of splashing and distant feminine giggling and this had completely distracted him from anything else

"Huh?" he exclaimed. Wondering if what he heard was real or in his adolescent mind.

"What?" Andy inquired from the bank as he threw on his pack.

"Oh nothing, don't worry about it." He responded. _"I didn't just hear that did I?"_ he pondered.

"Eyes front Luz." Aero bellowed and snapping Luz' flustered looking face forward towards the opposite bank.

Unfortunately for him, Aero had heard the same thing. He barked at him partly to remind him of their conversation from the journey up here, but mainly he did it just to bust his chops and this did not fail to amuse. "Andy, keep an eye on him would you." He said, Andy gave a nod in return.

After having got changed back into his khakis that were still good and a plain white T-shirt; Aero stopped by the waterside for a moment to fill up his water canteen. As he was doing this he thought he spied something in the sky through the refection of the water. "What the hell is that." He muttered under his breath. He looked skyward but they were absolutely clear, not even any birds and that didn't help to sway his worries any more than the shadow that he thought he saw swipe across the ground. He cast a worried look up and into the sky above. _"Must've been my imagination I guess." _ He thought pushing his worries aside and deciding to get on with the rest of the day.

* * *

When he returned to camp he could see his father gathering up the dishes from breakfast and began to make his way down to the stream. Aero in the meantime went to his tent, retrieved his pack and sat by the fire. He pulled out his book and quietly read for a moment until he saw some of the party returning. When he looked over he could see Luz, Andy and Ishara all strolling up in their usual attire along with their packs that they took with them.

"So what are the plans for today then?" Ishara asked as she sat down next to Aero with the others sitting across from them.

"Well, I figured we'd do a little bit of fishing down by the river then see where the day takes use from there." Aero proposed as stowed his book away and gave them his full attention.

"I say we have a little competition to see who can catch the most." Andy said in excitement.

"and what does the winner get?" Aero asked with a smirk.

Andy thought for moment. "...Respect." he responded.

"You're on." Aero exclaimed now standing up.

"I'm still trying to wrap my head around how the school added swordfish to the lunch menu. But hey I'm not complaining." Luz added with a shrug.

"Okay then it's settled. Ish, you wanna help me get the fishing gear while you two head down to the river and find a good flat to use." Instructed Aero and at this they went to their individual tasks. A moment later having gathered the rods and a handful of the boar meat, Aero and Ishara started the trek back to the riverbank.

However, before they were even a few feet away from the camp, the shadow from earlier passed over them and this instantly put Aero on edge. _"There it is again, what the he-."_ Before he could finish that thought and register what happened he was on the ground. He turned over with a grunt to be met with the most fearsome sight that could only be the stuff of nightmares. Staring down at him were the most heinous looking eyes with blood red sclera's and acidy yellow irises. The eyes belong to a creature that was nothing short of horrifying; it was covered in grimy looking scales, white jagged horns ran off the back of its head and the front ended in a pointed snout with a plated white tip. These finer traits made it instantly recognizable as a creature of Grimm, but not one Aero had ever seen or heard of; this demon was the epitome of a nightmare come to life.

The beast had surrounded Aero with its enormous wingspan preventing any easy escape, not that he could as he was frozen in shock. The Grimm lowered its head towards him before sniffing him and the air around him. It slowly raised its head back before opening its mouth, letting out a low growling hiss and slipping its tongue as it did so. What finally broke Aero out of his stupor was what fell from the creature maw as it hissed; an ooze of sorts dribbled down and fell next to him before instantly igniting. He instinctively rolled to the side away from it, only to have another glob of the volatile liquid splat down on that side too.

The Grimm brought its head back down; only this time with its mouth wide open and ready for its next meal. Seeing there was no escaping this and still in too much shock to even call out; Aero closed his eyes and prayed for it to be over quickly.

What had happened next left him completely dumbfounded. As he cowered under the beastly Grimm, waiting for his demise; he heard the creature bellow out in agony. Opening his eyes he could see that the monster had recoiled back with a large cut straight through one its wings, and standing between him and it was his mother. She had her sword drawn and angled down in a protective stance. "Run!" she yelled to her son whilst maintaining eye contact with the horror before her.

Aero sprang up and ran in the opposite direction away from the showdown only stopping momentarily to grab Ishara, who like him only moments before, was trapped in a state of shock as well. "Ish! Come on! We gotta go!" he yelled grabbing her hand and snapping her out of her dazed state. They ran to a nearby ditch and jumped down into it. "Are you ok?" Aero asked slightly out of breath.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." She mumbled. She held a hand to her chest to try and slow her breathing. "What is that thing?" She asked turning towards him.

"I-I-I don't know." He stuttered out still in slight shock from what had just transpired. His heart was racing so much he couldn't even process the last few seconds properly, almost like it was a dream. Gathering his nerves, he decided to take a chance and peer out over the top of the ditch. He looked up just in time to see his mother charge the beast just as it had recovered from her opening strike.

The Grimm reared its head and shot out a torrent of flames from its mouth. Zafina countered by quickly planting her sword in the ground. The flat of the blade faced her and she threw herself against it, shielding her from the inferno. As the flames died down the serpent moved to inspect its handiwork and approached what it assumed was just a standing sword. Zafina took a moment to listen and judge the monsters distance as it closed in. When it was less than a yard away, she swiftly reached up and gripped her sword before swiping it up in a wide arc up at its face. She was too fast for the beast to react, but it made little difference whether he reacted or not. The blade simply glanced off in a shower of sparks and leaving the smallest of scratches in its facial armour.

However, this glancing blow did give her the opportunity she needed. She began diverting as much of her aura into her left hand as she could; so much so that it began to glow a faint turquoise colour. But the Grimm recovered faster than she had expected, it reared its head back again and prepared to breathe another jet of fire at her. Using whatever aura she had mustered at that point; she lunged at the monster and threw her fist at it only to be met with its fire breath halfway. The flames had entirely engulfed her left arm; wisps of aura could be seen escaping from the bright orange blaze. Her face grimaced in pain but she managed to follow through with the mighty swing, landed the hit right in the Grimm's face and leaving a web of cracks on its armour. This sent the Grimm stumbling back a few feet and momentarily stunning it. Not wasting another moment, she took off towards the ditch as fast as her legs would carry her and dove in.

Zafina collapsed into the trench rather clumsily with her sword clattering to the ground next to her. "Mom, are you ok?" Aero asked with Ishara coming up behind him as they crawled over to her. What they saw next however made them hesitate to come closer. Zafina's arm was a mess; with almost no skin left on it, covered in blood and hanging limp at her side.

"I'm fine." She responded with a shaky breath. She noticed their eyes drifting to her afflicted arm. "You should see the other guy. Don't worry about this, I'll be fine." She assured, although it did little to sway their worries. They could see she was struggling, with her good arm shaking from the adrenaline, her face drenched in sweat and her hair had fallen over her face as she doubled over panting from the agonizing pain.

"Z!" Aero and Ishara turned to see their father running towards them along the ditch before stopping beside his wounded wife. "What happened?" he asked worriedly.

"That happened." She grunted out and weakly pointed over the edge of the ditch. Ulrich slowly peeked over the edge to see the bizarre Grimm orienting itself and shaking the dirt out of its scales.

"What the hell is that thing?" Aero impatiently asked.

"Watch your language." His mother retorted with a smile. "And that thing is a Wyvern." Ulrich had a look of dismay on his face once he crouched back down. "The funny thing is they're supposed to be extinct; nothing more than a myth." She added as she moved to pick up her sword. She got a sure grip and used it to help her stand.

"You gonna be okay?" Ulrich asked concerned about her wound.

"Don't worry about me!" she barked as he gripped her shoulder to support her. "What you need to worry about is getting our children out of here, okay!" she said through gritted teeth.

Ulrich turned to Aero and Ishara. "Where are Luz and Andy?" he calmly asked.

"They were headed down to the river." Ishara quickly responded.

"Then that's where we'll go. Once we find them, we'll make a run for Verbist." Ulrich said with a nod. He turned back to his wife who brushing here out of her face. "Are you sure about this?" he said recognising that look in her eyes.

"You know me." She replied casually ignoring the pain in her arm.

"That's what I'm worried about, be careful." He said forcing a smile onto his face. "I love you, you know that." He said as he cupped her cheek.

"Yeah, yeah, I love you too and all that. Now get going would ya, you're gonna cramp my style." She said playfully pushing him away. He quickly rebounded though and caught her lips in a kiss. They separated after a moment. "Time for you to go." She said softly with a gentle smile. "Okay, when I make my move, you three make a break for it." she peered back over the ditch to see the beast wandering about trying to search for them.

Zafina waited a few seconds before leaping out of the ditch and back into the field. "Aero, Ish, follow me!" Ulrich exclaimed as he took Ishara's hand. They took off in a sprint along the trench and into the tree line.

"Dad! Where's Aero!?" Ishara frantically asked. He looked around to see that he in fact wasn't with them. Looking back along their path he could see he was still in the ditch.

Aero had watched the whole conversation between his mother and father, and quickly understood what she intended to do; she was going to stay behind while they escaped to the river. He wasn't going to stand for this. As his father and sister left for the tree line; he stayed behind, drew his hunting knife from his belt and climbed out of the ditch.

Zafina drew the attention of the Wyvern with a sharp whistle and it snapped its head towards her instantly. She raised her sword slowly in a guard stance, which proved bothersome with only one good arm. As the wyvern approached however, she saw it gaze shift slightly. Following it, she saw the last thing she wanted to see in this situation. Aero was standing just a few metres away with his knife drawn and a furious look in his face. "No! Stay down!" Zafina cried out as she rushed up to him. She dropped her aura so she wouldn't hurt him too much before she unceremoniously shoved him back towards the ditch and made him tumble back into it. Zafina came up to the edge of the ditch to see Aero looking straight back at her with a disgruntled expression. "Stay here!" she ordered down to him. However this carelessness proved fatal. Before Aero could even respond, something happened that would stick with from here to eternity. As Zafina began to turn back around to face the wyvern, she was suddenly stopped in her movement and her face became one of vacancy. A second later a barbed spike erupted from her chest, spraying blood all over the ground and she let out a bloodcurdling screech as it slowly lifted her a few inches off the ground. Aero's face had instantly turned from one of annoyance to absolute fright.

"MOM! NO!" Aero cried. He reached up to her but she was quickly yanked away from his sight and in turn splattering him with his mother's blood. His heart dropped seeing this and it was a great effort just to get his body to move. He was able to pull himself up just in time so see his mother be flung down hard to the ground; along with her sword that came down spinning and stabbed itself into the ground at the edge of the trench. As she lay there, the wyvern violently ripped its tail free from her body with a sudden whip and sending a spray of crimson into the sky. Aero could only look in stunned silence upon seeing his mother's stricken state.

She laid there battered and broken with blood slowly pooling beneath her. She very slowly rolled over onto her back whilst coughing up a bit of blood; blood still poured out of the large hole in her chest, blood soaked her hair and open wounds covered the entirety of her body. After all of this Zafina was able to struggle to her feet and retake a guard stance, despite being weaponless. She was breathing heavily and a red mist had clouded her vision from blood covering her face. She forced the last of her aura into her hands and stretched them out in front of her in preparation for the Grimm's next assault. The wyvern reared its head back just like it did before and unleashed a flaming tide that entirely engulfed the weakened huntress. Her aura or what was left of it, was holding against the flames; but it was deteriorating at an alarming rate.

She soon realized her fate as the last of her aura depleted. _"Well, if this is how it has to be."_ She thought with a confident smile, as if she was having a normal conversation. The shield ultimately fell and the blaze had finally enveloped her.

The wyvern satisfied that this small nuisance would no longer be a hindrance moved in on the scorched and still burning earth. It began actually eating the ash that was produced; although it was curious at first, it soon consumed it like it was part of its everyday diet.

The last thing Aero saw of his mother was a silhouetted figure amongst the flames and slowly falling to the ground lifelessly. He looked to his right to see his mother's sword a few yards down from where he was. He crawled along the ditch until he was sitting below the sword as it had angled slightly so that it was perched precariously over Aero. The fear that had set in his heart was quickly replaced with anger and the desire for vengeance. He reached up to grip the handle of the sword only for his hand to be burnt as soon as he gripped it; what he didn't realize earlier during the wyvern's continuous flame breath against his mother was that her sword was also caught in the path as well. He withdrew his hand with a painful cry and saw that the skin on his palm had been burnt completely off. Aero looked back up at the sword that was still towering over him; he could see that the leather that had wrapped the handle had completely melted off and he had gripped the bare metal handle.

The anger he felt before was now gone, as having been so careless had brought something to light. What could he possibly hope to do to this thing in a fight that his mother couldn't. He was just a child and if he hadn't intervened then maybe she would still be alive right now. These thought's and feelings alongside the numbing pain he felt in his hand made him sick to his stomach.

Aero having vomited numerous times after seeing this horrific sequence of events, was suddenly dragged out of the ditch by someone at his back. As he was in transit he could see that the wyvern was too distracted with its meal to be concerned about him. When he managed to get a look whoever had a hold of him, he saw it was his father. Before he had a chance to speak he was thrown to the ground amongst the tree line.

"Stupid boy." Ulrich muttered under his breath with a scowl. "Are you okay?!" He angrily asked. Aero didn't answer. "Aero! Are you hurt?!" He asked more forcefully. The situation was becoming too much for Ishara and she was quietly sobbing whilst huddled up against a tree. "AERO!" Ulrich shouted this time and it got his son's attention this time. Aero was trembling as he looked around him; first at his sister then to his father, whom he frantically nodded at. "Okay, that's good." Ulrich said with a sigh as he ran his hand through his hair. "Listen, we have to keep moving. Do you think you guys can do that for me?" he said as he helped his son off the ground.

"What about mom?" Ishara whimpered out with her eyes shut tight.

Ulrich opened his mouth to answer but hesitated. He took a moment to think and put on a smile. "She's gonna me-" he was cut off midsentence when he was knocked aside with a mighty strike and smacked into a tree.

Ishara started to scream hysterically seeing her father thrown around like a ragdoll and the approaching form of the beast responsible. The wyvern had had its fill with the ash and had quickly homed in on their location. Ishara screaming caught the attention of the Grimm bearing down on them and it stalked towards her almost as if just to incite more fear. The wyvern slowly opened its mouth and a tar-like substance spewed forth, coating the ground in front of her. The beast took a second to adjust its aim and readied another glob of the black ooze.

Before it could spit though, Ulrich had recovered, jumped over to Ishara, threw her a short distance away and clear of the wyverns attack. He didn't have time to save himself as the viscous liquid coated him from head to toe and rooted him in place. The substance was unlike anything any of them had ever seen; it clung to his skin, and no matter how much Ulrich clawed and tugged at it, the sticky substance just wouldn't come off. This wasn't the worst thing about it though; it was constantly burning Ulrich and slowly working its way into his circulatory system.

He could feel it burrowing its way into his mind. It was consuming absolutely everything, his thoughts, his dreams but most important of to him...his memories. It was like they were being erased from a chalkboard before his very eyes.

His childhood, gone.

When he first met Zafina, gone.

His time as a Huntsman, gone.

The birth of his children, gone.

And when he turned to Aero and Ishara whilst in this macabre state; all he could feel was the unyielding desire to kill and to infect.

Aero pulled Ishara closer to him as the corrupted form their father approached. "Don't look Ish." He whispered to her and she held onto him tightly whilst burying her head into his shoulder.

Ulrich was now a shadow of his former self. He still retained his human form, only it was more twisted. His skin was pitch black from the tarry substance; it covered the entirety of his body and was seeping off in some places. His hair had completely moulted off from the transformation and his fingers had bent into claw like forms. What were most terrifying of all though were his eyes; they were no longer the gentle brown that his family had always known. Now they were a blood red but with no sclera. This gave them the appearance shining red beads that were almost hypnotic in a sense.

He reached out with one of his clawed hands with a guttural sound escaping his cracked lips, whilst the wyvern watched on gleefully. The wyvern itself was only watching because it was curious at what this new ability of his could actually do. But, just as the corrupted Ulrich was less than a foot away from the two; he recoiled and this made the wyvern growl in annoyance. Some part of Ulrich was still alive and it was fighting back internally. The abomination let a loud roar that sounded a lot like Ulrich only it was heavily distorted and it wrapped it arms around itself as it slumped to the ground. The wyvern eventually grew impatient at this fault and decided to get the job done itself; that is once it had dealt with another pest. The corrupted Ulrich was still bellowing in its demented way as the wyvern bounded up to him.

Aero took this opportunity and picked up Ishara in his arms before running off further into the woods. He briefly looked back to see the wyvern had snatched his father up in its mouth with his top half sticking out and all the while Ulrich was still hollering out as if nothing had changed. Aero turned back around just as the wyvern bit down and his father's corrupted form screamed no more. As he ran all that he could hear was Ishara's whimpering in his ear and the gnawing of flesh behind him.

* * *

He ran and kept on running non-stop until he came to the stream. The skies had turned gray by this point and the wind carried the sound of thunder. Ishara had stopped crying for a moment and was quietly resting in his arms. He stumbled down to the water's edge and stopped to look around for a moment. _"What just happened, everything was good and then...then all of this. Mom...an...and dad, both...just...just gone."_ He sadly thought as he stared into nothingness having completely zoned out during the run.

"A...Aero?" Ishara croaked out still in his arms.

He snapped out of it and looked down at her. "Hmm, how you doing?" he murmured.

"Fine, Y-you... can put me down now." She worriedly told him.

"O-okay, hold on." He said looking around once more.

He moved to gently set her down but he didn't realize how exhausted he was after the run. He dropped to his knees abruptly and Ishara slipped out his grasp with a yelp as she hit the ground. He quickly crawled up to her on his knees. "I'm sorry Ish, I'm so sorry. I...I guess I didn't realise how tired I really was." He said hold back tears of his own

"It...It's okay, its o-okay." She said in obvious discomfort. Aero lifted her up slightly and rested her head on his lap. "Aero, your arm." She said as she weakly pointed at his left arm.

He looked down to see a small horizontal gash around part of his upper arm. He looked back to Ishara upon hearing a ripping sound. She had torn off a part of her shawl and made it into a strip. "Here." She said as she tried to move to bandage the wound. Aero tried to take the piece of cloth from her to do it himself but she batted his hand away. "No, let me at least do this." She said as she carefully lifted herself up to get to his arm. He handed her his canteen from his belt; she splashed a little water on the wound making him wince slightly. Ishara took the scrap from her shawl and quickly wrapped his arm. "That should do for now." she muttered mainly to herself. As she turned and was about to lay back down, she noticed the burn on Aero's hand. She smiled and shook her head. "Come on, that too." she said as she grabbed Aero's hand and poured some water on the wound while he remained somewhat detached from the situation. He was running over and over again in his head what had happened only moments ago and trying to think what his mother or father would do in this situation.

As Ishara wrapped his hand Aero broke out of his train of thought and noticed something under her shawl through the part that was torn. He raised it up slightly whilst she continued bandaging. Part of her arm was covered in that same tar-like substance that had taken their father. "Ish" he said in a soft and concerned tone.

**Music cue: In the House, in a Heartbeat. (Piano version, low volume recommended)**

She finished wrapping his arm; she then slumped her shoulders and hung her head low. Her shoulders were trembling and Aero gently wrapped his arms around her and brought her back onto his lap. They both had tears in their eyes as they looked at each other. "What...what...how...when did..." he managed to stutter out before he couldn't continue.

"When the wyvern first spat that stuff, some of it must've gotten on me." She said still trembling. "I only noticed it as you were carrying me through the woods." She added with a few tears now streaming down her face.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Aero asked as he wiped some of her tears away.

"I was scared and I didn't want you to worry. You've been taking care of me ever since we were little and I just didn't want to be any more of a burden." she told him sounding very despondent.

By now it had begun to lightly rain and the clouds were only getting darker.

Aero took in what he had just learned and what his sister had told him. At those words, what was left of his world had come crashing down. He just wanted everything to go back to the way it was, but he knew that wasn't going to happen. Right now he had to care for his sister and he would do everything he could do, even if it was just to see a smile on her face.

"E-Everything is going to be alright, okay. I-I'm gonna get you out of here an-and then we're gonna go home. I'm going to read you some more of that book and then we're gonna get some ice cream like we did on your first day of school. How does that sound." He told her forcing a smile onto his face despite the tears now staining his face. He didn't know what to tell her; he couldn't outright tell her she was going to die. So he told her anything that he thought would keep her mind off of that.

"I-It sounds great." She replied softly and returning the smile. She would be fooling herself and Aero if she believed all that would be possible again; but she played along nonetheless, for him.

This charade was paper thin, they both knew what was going to happen to her eventually; they both saw it happen to their father before their very eyes. They saw what a monster he became and what he intended to do to the both of them.

Aero's smile soon broke; he couldn't even lie convincingly enough to fool himself. He buried his head into his sister's shoulder and held her as tight as he could. "This is all my fault! Ish, I'm sorry. I-If I had just followed you and dad in the first place, then...then..." Again he couldn't finish, he descended into incoherent babbling and then into silent sobbing.

Ishara maintained her smile and calm tone, for his sake. "Shhhh, it's okay." She whispered to him as he shuddered against her and she stroked the side of his head. "You'll think of something and everything will be alright just like you said it would be." She added as she wrapped her arms around him. The venom was slowly working its way into her system, sapping her of her strength and she could feel every bit of it. She held onto him with what little strength she had left.

The only thing that could be heard in that clearing by the side of that stream; were Aero's quiet sobbing as he rocked back and forth with his sister in his arms, the low drum of thunder from the approaching storm and the increasing volume of rain tapping off of rocks and splashing in the river.

Two great heroes died this day.

But another will arise in the new light...but at a cost.

A cost that can neither be avoided nor denied.

* * *

_One closes behind one the little gate of mere boyishness – and enters an enchanted garden. Its very shades glow with promise. Every turn of the path has its seduction. And it isn't because it is an undiscovered country._

_One knows well enough that all mankind had streamed that way … One goes on. And the time, too, goes on – till one perceives ahead a shadow-line warning one that the region of early youth, too, must be left behind._

_-Joseph Conrad._

* * *

**AN: If you haven't read "Once Upon A Time" by Kraven Ergeist then I highly recommend that you do. That story inspired a couple of things in this chapter.**

**Anyway this is where the story really starts to pick up and really starts to branch out so chapters should be coming a bit faster by my reckoning now that I have a lot of people's backstories out of the way.**

**Disclaimer: Drood is not owned by me; that is a product of Dan Simmons own genius.**


	7. Chapter 4: Bad Dreams and One Last Gift

**AN: Again I probably could've got this done faster, but I got distracted by...things n' stuff, mainly Netflix which I recently got into. I also went back and revised a few things in the previous chapter. Besides that I got nothing else to say other than to leave a review if you want and let me know how the story's coming across. Now, some part of me is extremely pleased with how this chapter turned out while another is slightly ashamed...you'll see when you read it.**

**Also, things will get very dark and emotions will run very high in this chapter; no one would blame you for skipping some parts. You have been warned.**

* * *

Bad Dreams and One Last Gift.

By now the skies were a very depressing grey and the storm was in full swing. It was a torrential downpour, with irregular claps of thunder and flashes of lightning. The air was thick with the smell of petrichor due to the recent summery and dry climate in the region.

Under a rock shelf blocking out the rain sat a boy in tattered and soaked clothing. Next to him out in the rain sat a canteen, letting it slowly fill up and in his hand was a piece of cloth with black stains. He was holding this cloth out in the rain from his seat and letting the rain washout the black sludge. Satisfied that the canteen was sufficiently full and the cloth was clean enough; the boy got and moved along the wall behind him. The wall curved round and lead to a small cave opening in the earth.

As he walked into the cave he could see the small fire he had started made using the twigs and leaves. The cave didn't lead very far in but it provided enough shelter from the wind and the rain. Next to the fire lay a small pale skinned girl who was barely moving. "Ishara? How you doing?" he softly said with a smile as he knelt down beside her.

Her voice came out slightly raspy. "Aero, there you are." She responded as she reached out for him. He met her halfway and grasped her hand. "I'm still alive, don't worry." She smiled weakly.

"And you're gonna stay that way if I have anything to say about it." He said with as much confidence as he could muster. He moved to lift her shawl and inspect her arm. What he saw saddened him, Ishara didn't notice this however as she was watching the flames of the meagre fire. The infection had spread fast for such a small amount and her entire right arm was pitch black; it had reached down to her wrist and up to her shoulder. He took the soaked rag and swabbed up and down the length of the infected area. Looking over to her, he decided to test something. "Ish, can you feel that?" He quietly asked her as he continued washing her arm.

She kept her focus on the flames. "No, I can't feel anything below my shoulder and even that feels really weird as it is." She replied still in a scratchy voice.

He gently raised her head and picked up his canteen. "Drink some of this." He told her bringing the canteen to her lips. She gratefully accepted it and drank it quickly. She spluttered a little bit from the speed at which she had essentially chugged down the water. "Slow down there." He brought the canteen away from her and set it down. "How does that feel?" he asked as her breathing settled and he rested her head in his lap.

"Much better. Thank you." Ishara replied before suddenly going into a coughing fit. This lasted for a few moments before she settled again. She looked up at Aero. "Sorry about that." She weakly apologized.

"It's okay." Aero told her as he brushed her hair back that had fallen over her face due to the intensity of the coughing. "Do you want some more water?" he asked reaching for the canteen again.

"No, no. It's fine." She responded. Her breathing now seemed slightly laboured. "I'm actually a little sleepy." She said with half lidded eyes and a wheeze.

Aero got as comfortable as he could on the cold stone floor. "You take a nap then. Don't worry I'll keep watch." He said as he threw a few leaves and stick on the fire from a small pile he had gathered beforehand. Ever since they left the stream he had kept one eye on the sky in fear of the Wyvern returning to finish what it started. Ishara shifted slightly in his lap and turned towards him with her back to the fire.

"You should get some sleep too." Ishara murmurs sleepily.

"I will. You just get your head down in the meantime, don't you worry." Aero responded whilst flexing his burnt hand instinctively. In a matter of seconds she was out cold and asleep; but her breathing was still strained and Aero knew it would probably only get worse.

He could tell she was getting worse. The infection had spread across her entire arm in a matter of hours; the simple act of breathing was beginning to become a chore; she was as white as a sheet, and her once beautiful blue eyes were now so dark they almost seemed hollow.

He ran through what had happened in the few short hours of the day so far. His mother incinerated before his very eyes. His father transformed into a mindless abomination and now his sister was slowly dying in his arms; the last thing he had left in this world and it was being torn from his arms in the most violent sense without a single thing to be done about it. He had spent so long mentally torturing himself that he was gradually settling on the floor and nodding off to sleep as well. Ishara instinctively laid down next to him and shuffled closer for warmth despite her weakened state.

* * *

Aero dreamt that he was back at home with his family and everything was right in the world.

He was sitting outside at a picnic table with Ishara beside him, and his mother and father sitting opposite them across the table. The sun was shining and a gentle wind was rustling the trees creating an altogether spectacular ambience.

"Mom! Dad! It's good to see you guys. Me and Ish thought you were both dead." Aero said looking across at them before turning to Ishara.

"Don't worry Aero that was just a bad dream." His mother responded in a monotonous tone.

"We're not going anywhere son, you can count on that much." His father added.

All four of them were enjoying their lunch and Aero was about to reach for a red apple on a plate. But something suddenly occurred to him and it seemed very wrong to him; no one was saying a word to each other and hadn't done unless he spoke to them.

Aero soon felt a tug on his arm. He looked to his right to see Ishara with both her arms wrapped around it his arm and pulling it towards her. "What's the matter Ish?" he asked with a smile, still happy to be back with his family. But when he turned to her he could see she looked quite distressed and her mouth was moving but no sound was coming out. "Ish come on quit playing around." He pushed her hand away that had gripped his sleeve. She started to get more animated with her motions and even shoved Aero slightly. "Ish! Quit it!" She viciously grabbed on to his shirt and looked up at him, all the while her mouth was still moving but still with no sound.

"Ishara! Stop bothering your brother!" Ulrich practically yelled.

There was something in her eyes though that did worry Aero. They were panicked and almost pleading with him, but he just couldn't decipher what she was trying to tell him. He grabbed onto her shoulders to calm her down. "Mom! Something's bothering Ishara!" Aero implored with worry.

"Just ignore her. She just wants all your attention on her, like usual." His mother responded in a snide tone.

"That's not true!" Aero yelled across the table as he hugged Ishara close to him. "Look, something is clearly bothering her!" He looked back to her too see her head buried in his chest, but she was looking over at their parents with a look of absolute terror. "And the only reason I give her my attention is because I want to. That's how it's always been and that's how it'll remain." He as he ran a hand through Ishara's hair in an attempt to calm her down.

"Just leave the little bitch and we'll discipline her later." Zafina said getting up from her seat.

"Don't call her that!" Aero spat out angrily. "You're her mother for monty's sake." He said regaining some calmness in his voice.

"Just step away from her and everything will be okay, I promise." Ulrich chimed in as he too got up from his seat.

Aero saw his mother slowly reach back for her sword. Aero, on instinct to protect his sister reached for his belt. He was thankful that his knife was where it's supposed to be. He drew it and flipped the blade out with strong flick of his wrist.

"STAY BACK!" Aero roared at the two fully trained hunters before him whilst shifting Ishara behind him. "What's come over you two, we're your own children." he could feel his sister's tears soaking through the back of his shirt, It was only then that he noticed the sky had turned a faint shade of red and the wind had picked up immensely.

Zafina drew her sword and cleaved the table in two with one swing but Aero stood his ground. "You're so weak, you're the reason we're dead! You're the reason Ishara is suffering!" she yelled as brushed aside the two halves of the table like they were made of paper.

Aero was too busy focusing on her that he didn't see his father materialize seemingly out of nowhere behind him. He seized Ishara by her throat and yanked her away from Aero. "Ishara!" he cried as he turned to face Ulrich. "I don't who or what you are, but you sure as hell aren't our parents!" he pointed his knife towards his father and looked him dead in his eyes that were full malice. "NOW LET HER GO!" he looked back to see his mother approaching like a hunter would stalk its prey. She was menacingly licking her lips and twirling her huge sword in her hands effortlessly.

Ishara was still mute but her squirming spoke volumes as Ulrich tightened his grasp around her fragile neck. By now the sky had become much redder and the clouds had begun to move at unnatural speeds creating a vortex of sorts above them. Aero was stuck in the most agonizing conundrum; if he moved to save Ishara then he would be cut down by his mother and that's if he could overpower his father in the first place, but if he stood his ground and dealt with his mother then Ishara would have the life squeezed out of her in seconds.

Ulrich lowered himself so that his head was level with Ishara's. "All you have to do is give in and all of this will stop." Ulrich calmly said with a menacing smile as Aero turned back to face him. "That doesn't sound too hard now does it? After all look how much pain your sister is in." Ishara tried to pull away from him but he grabbed her head with his other hand and held her firmly in place. "Now I thought you wanted to protect your sister like a good big brother." Ishara had tears streaming down her face as he continued.

"SHUT UP!" Aero yelled with eyes that burned with wrath.

Ulrich let out a disturbing chuckle. "Here I thought we taught you some MANNERS!" He suddenly tightened his grip and Ishara's arms tensed and went rigid while her legs and arms flailed about wildly. She may have been mute but her gasps were very audible. This threw Aero into a rage forcing his decision; he lunged at his father with a guttural roar and his knife at the ready. However, Ulrich had anticipated this and launched a powerful push kick into Aero's chest. This kick had hit him slightly off centre and the force of the impact had turned him back around to face Zafina. Before Aero could even figure out what had happened Zafina had slashed him across the chest and he fell to his knees with wide eyes. His mother then came up to him and struck him across the face with the back of her hand and sending him to the ground.

He couldn't actually feel any pain from the slash or the strike, but neither could he get up nor move altogether. He was paralysed at the perfect angle to see his mother standing over him and his father slowly choking his sister to death. Ishara movements soon ceased and her eyes rolled back in her skull. Ulrich tossed her limp body towards Aero and she landed facing him in the blood that had quickly pooled around him.

"Get up, Get up!" Aero muttered angrily through gritted teeth. He used every ounce of willpower and strength he had and stretched out one of his arms towards Ishara's lifeless body. _"They're right; I can't even protect her, let alone look after myself."_ He thought wistfully to himself.

His vision slowly began to fade and last thing he would see were his parents or whatever was trying to pass for his parents gleefully standing over his and sister's body. However, as his vision was about to be consumed in total darkness something caught his eye. The apple that he previously reached for on the picnic table had rolled to the edge of the broken table. He couldn't really explain why this grabbed his attention but something about captivated him. Time seemed to slow down as his eyelids felt heavier and heavier. The apple soon fell and as it hit the ground the most unexpected thing occurred. Instead of landing without incident, it shattered as if it were made of glass.

Not long after everything began to shatter just as the apple did. Aero looked up in time to see his mother and father beginning to show cracks and eventually explode into tiny shards. The earth suddenly erupted in a web of cracks with red beams of light shining through and it soon collapsed beneath him sending him into a dark oblivion. Aero looked over fading in and out of consciousness to see Ishara's body falling beside him; He lazily reached whilst fighting to stay awake and snagged a part of her shawl to bring her closer. But just he was able to get his arms around her something caught his eye in the darkness below. Whatever it was it was moving towards him fast and there wouldn't be a thing he could do about it. As it closed he only got a glimpse of it before it swallowed him in its pitch black maw and everything went dark around him.

* * *

Aero jolted awake and shot upright clutching his chest where the wound would've been, but all he could feel was his still beating and very much alive heart. "Damn it, what was that? it-it was all just a dream." He was shaking all over and his skin crawled. "No, a nightmare. some kind of nightmare." he laid back down and rested an arm on top of his head as he let out a shaky breath.

He looked over expecting Ishara to still be sleeping next to him, but instead she was sitting upright with her legs pulled to her and her back to him facing the small fire. "Ish?" he whispered as he crawled over to her. He looked over her shoulder and only just realized that she was taking in very quick breaths and they sounded just as haggard as before. He scooted up next to her and put an arm around her; her breathing slowed at this but only by a little.

"I'm okay." She responded taking in a deep breath. "Wha-what was that?" she asked turning to Aero.

"You felt that too?" he and she nodded in reply. "But how?" he inquired still rather confused.

"I-I don't know." She grabbed the canteen off Aero's belt and took a few gulps from it before handing it back to him. "But whatever that was, I don't want it to happen again." She collapsed into him and her breathing became exacerbated again "I can't lose you too" she managed to choke out. She was shaking like a leaf and she had a cold sweat as well.

"Ish, you need to calm down." Aero said before he wrapped his arms around her stomach from behind and pulled her to him so that her back was against his chest. "Slow your breathing and try and match it to mine if you can. Okay?" He cupped a hand over her heart to try and help her match his heartbeat as well.

She squeezed her eyes shut. "I-I'll…..try." she managed to say between breaths.

As her breathing steadied, Aero noticed that the infection had spread up over her shoulder and onto the back of her neck. He skimmed his finger along the darkened skin and he could see that it ran up further than he had initially thought. A clump of her dark hair moulted off from just above the nape of her neck in Aero's hand.

He was afraid of this happening but in the back of his mind he knew it was inevitable. He pushed these fears aside for now as Ishara had finally settled and was peacefully lying against him. "How you feeling now?" he asked as he quickly chucked a few leaves on the dying flames of the fire. She murmured something that he couldn't quite hear so he brought his head closer. "Say that again, Ish."

Her eyes were half lidded and she was blinking very slowly. "Hungry." She whispered into his ear.

"Okay, h-hold on. I might have something." Aero said as he reached into one of the pouches on his belt and pulled out a few strips of salted pork. Before the attack at camp, Aero had prepared this for when they would go fishing. He pulled apart some of the pieces of meat and brought a piece up to her mouth. "Ish." Her eyes flicked open slightly and focused on his hand in front of her face. "Try some of this." He placed a piece on her lips and she held it there. "c'mon, chew." He softly told her. She tried to chew the meat but she just didn't have the energy and it simply fell out.

"I-I-I can't." she whimpered out and she shakily gripped onto his arm that was still wrapped across her stomach. The storm had worsened even further by this time and the temperature was slowly dropping as well.

Aero thought of the only other way he could help her eat and at least gain some strength back; he picked up the meat that fell and brought the rest still in his hand round back to him. He place a good portion of it in his mouth and quickly chewed it himself until it was finely ground.

He spat out the minced meat into his hand and brought it back around in front of Ishara. "Ish." Her eyes slowly drifted open at his voice. "Try this. It might be a little gross but I didn't really…" He didn't have to finish as Ishara practically threw herself at his palm and was greedily eating out of his hand. "Slow down a little." She complied and took small bites.

As she ate, Aero could already tell she had regained at least some measure of her strength as he had actually got a grip on his hand and was holding it firm to her face as she fed. When she finished she kept her hold on his hand and brought it to rest on top of their others still resting on top of Ishara's stomach. Aero slipped one hand out of her grasp and grabbed his canteen again. It felt light in his hand, so he gave it a shake and heard it to be less than a quarter full; regardless he uncapped it and brought in around in front of the both of them.

"Here, this is the last of it." Aero said bringing the canteen to her lips.

"What about you?" she meekly asked looking up at him slightly.

"I'll be okay." Aero responded with a gentle smile. "Besides, you need it more." He added as he hugged her a little tighter.

"No." Ishara said gently moving the canteen away from her.

"Ish, please." Aero said with a sigh and sounding slightly vexed.

Ishara became very annoyed at hearing this. "No!" she cried as loud as her frail voice would allow and she pushed the canteen away more forcefully. "Stop worrying about others and take care of yourself for once in your life!" this proved too much for and she broke down coughing again.

Aero took this opportunity and forced the canteen past her hands that were blocking the way. Ishara moved her head away trying to avoid the canteen, but Aero gently cupped her face with one hand and quickly put the canteen to her lips. She closed her eyes in frustration, gave in and reluctantly drank down the last few gulps of water whilst calmly clasping her hands back over his. As she drank Aero could see tears were streaming down her face and a bit of water had leaked as well from the corner of her mouth.

Once the canteen had emptied, Aero took it away and let it fall the floor with a hollow thud. He then wiped the water that spilled as well some of her tears with a part of her shawl. "Sorry, no arguments." He said as he turned and threw more leaves along with a couple of sticks onto the fire.

Ishara turned into him; she buried her head in his chest, clutched onto his shirt and broke down in tears for the umpteenth time today. "Ya know, sometimes you really piss me off." She quietly muttered through her sobs. "You should've drunk that yourself." She looked up at him slightly. "We both know what's going to happen." Aero looked down at her and he could see her eyes were still glistening with tears. "So it's pointless to keep doing this. So just stop it and look after yourself!" she said thumping his chest and raising her voice slightly.

A gentle smile appeared on Aero's face. "Ish, there wouldn't be any sense in that now and besides I made a promise." She eyed him curiously. "I made a promise to stand beside you whenever you were scared or in a bind and I intend to keep it." He said looking her in the eye with a serious face.

Ishara's expression softened hearing this. She let out a heavy sigh and faced forward. "You would say something like that." She half grumbled.

Aero plants a light kiss on the top of her head and then rested his head on top of hers. "Mom said that's just the kind of person I am." He lifted his head back up. "Speaking of which, I thought I was supposed to be the pessimistic one out of the two of us." He added looking down at her with a smug smile.

"Well I think I'm entitled to be a little grumpy after what we've been through." Ishara responded turning slightly away from his gaze.

"Fair argument, but negativity really doesn't suit you." Aero said as he scooted them both back slightly so that he could rest back on a small rock.

Ishara tucks her legs in and curls herself up against Aero. She starts to fidget a foot against one of her boots. "Having trouble there?" Aero asks with a slightly amused grin.

"Shut up and help me off with these things. They're starting to get uncomfortable." She said as she fiddled fruitlessly with the strap on one of her boots.

Aero manoeuvred his arms around her and reached down to assist her with the strap. He undoes the straps on both boots easily and slips them off before placing them aside. Ishara curls back up with her legs pulled in tight and settles in.

"Better?" he asks as he wraps his arms back around her in a hug.

"Much better, thank you." She responded as her eyes slowly drifted shut.

Aero didn't know how much time had passed as Ishara rested up against him. As she slept he periodically tossed some leaves and sticks on the fire to stave off the cold trying to creep its way into the cave. Aero idly stroked Ishara's head as he stared into the small fire a few feet in front of them until something suddenly occurred to him. He looked down at his sister and slowly moved to pick up the hand of her infected arm. What he saw saddened him; the infection had spread further and a black patch now covered the back of her hand. He could also see that her nails on that hand had grown pointed and sharp like razors.

He felt Ishara begin stir in his lap and he swiftly put his hand on top of hers to hide the state it was in from her. "Sleep well?" he queried before moving his hand from her head down to her shoulder. She responded with a gentle nod.

The two siblings both just stared into nothingness in silence for a while before Ishara felt the need to ask something. "Aero." she said in a voice barely above a whisper and he murmured in response. "You really…wouldn't leave me, would you?" she inquired with a confident smile being very sure at what his answer would be.

He gave her shoulder a gentle reassuring squeeze as he answered. "Like I promised, I never would nor will I ever."

"Never ever ever." She said with a big smile.

Aero knew what she was doing and joined in. "Never ever ever ever." He said with an equally large smile and a chuckle as well.

This went back and forth a couple more times before they were both laughing at one another and momentarily bring some light into the dark situation.

The laughter soon died down. "I wish mom and dad were here." Ishara said in a glum manner.

"Me too Ish, me too." Aero agreed. A brief silence set in and all that could was the light crackle of the fire alongside the howl of the wind outside.

"Hey, Ish. What was it like to…ya know what, nevermind." He exclaimed and then quickly abandoned.

She pushed herself up and looked at him. "Hmm, what is it?" she inquired.

"Don't worry about it, it was stupid anyway and it isn't really something I should just ask out of the blue." He told her with a dismissive shake of his head.

"Aero, tell me." She said practically begging with her tone.

He looked down slightly only to be met with her big blue eyes looking straight back at him. "Damn it. You know one day those won't work on me right." He smiled and lightly laughed.

"Well until that day your just gonna have to suffer through it." She replied with a sly grin. "Now what was it you wanted to tell me?" she asked.

Aero hesitated for a moment and took in a shaky breath before he spoke. "Okay. I was gonna ask what it was like in the nightmare."

Ishara looked confused. "What was what like?" she asked her curiosity rising.

"In the dream… you died and I guess I was just curious" he explained. "Like I said it was stupid and not really something I should've just asked." He looked away out of shame.

Ishara took a moment to process this. "Aero, I didn't die." She whispered.

"Yes you did Ish, I saw it."

"Aero, I didn't die." She paused to turn away slightly. "You did." She sorely added.

This made him equally as confused if not more. "Hang on. In the dream we were sitting at a picnic table with mom and dad right?"

"Yeah, then the sky turned really weird." Ishara picked up where he started and continued.

"That's right." Aero quietly interjected.

"But mom and dad were...different." Ishara said in a solemn tone.

"I definitely remember that." Aero added with a nod. "For some reason as well, you were mute and they seemed like they both wanted you out of the way. They started to get more and more angry if I tried to communicate with you as well." He rubbed his chin, then ran a hand through his hair and sighed heavily. He didn't want to have to recall the horrifying vision. "That's when it all went bad. Mom struck me down and dad, he-he strangled you to d-death in front of me." Ishara tightened her embrace and it seemed to help if only a little. "Seeing that completely broke me inside and the worst part about it was that I was entirely helpless to do anything about It." he finished on the brink of shedding a tear. He purposefully left out the part about the Wyvern right before he woke up; he didn't want to bring that monstrosity up if he didn't have to.

Her face was nothing short of absolute shock and that on top of what she saw in her dream proved almost too much for her. "Ish?" Aero whispered looking down at her. Seeing her expression he cursed himself at his own carelessness. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gone into so much detail." He apologised while gently rubbing her head.

"What's happening to us? Our dreams are similar if not the same altogether and they both show our deaths. Why is this happening all of a sudden; today started out so well, just like any other day." Ishara raved on and Aero just let her vent while offering a comforting embrace.

"Did you want to tell me about your dream? It might help if you let it out." Aero asked trying to dissuade her from getting too worked up during the rant. She looked paler than ever before as the infection was taking a very noticeable toll on not just her appearance but also on her demeanour.

She turned in his arms so that she was facing forward again with her back resting against him and her knees pulled up to her face. She stared at the small fire for a moment and absentmindedly curled her toes every now and again.

"Everything was the same as we described up until when you said I was mute in yours." She slowly and calmly told him. All the while maintain her gaze on the flames. "In mine you weren't exactly mute, but anything you said I couldn't really understand." Her head lowered slightly and her face was now partially hidden behind her shawl. "It just came out as grunts and growls. It was like you were an entirely different person, like an animal." She said sounding slightly frightened by the concept.

She turned back slightly to look at Aero from the corner of her eye while still slightly hidden behind her shawl. "Except when it came to me; when mom and dad started to become aggressive you behaved like the same loving and caring protective brother I always knew." She shot him a loving smile which he returned, but hers faded just as fast as it had appeared. "But that still didn't stop them." She turned back to look into the fire. "Dad grabbed you and slammed you up against a tree. When I tried to help mom threw me to the ground and beat me." She described the events that Aero was oh so familiar with from his own nightmare.

Aero could already hear hitches in her breath as she struggled to continue. He thought of stopping her there and then and saving her from having to relive it, but she continued before he could act. "Mom held me down and forced me to watch you. Dad looked like he did when we last saw him, all covered in black and he had those red eyes." She hunched forward further trying to curl up as much as she could and her breath had quickened ever so slightly. Aero, seeing this simply wrapped his arms around her tighter than ever before. "I was so scared; I didn't know what was going to happen to you or me." She brought her head back up and her breathing evened out. "I tried to struggle against mom or whatever those two things were. But every time she'd hurt me or dad would hurt you. The worst thing about it was they were laughing all the time, like it was some game to them." Her hands gripped Aero's arms and squeezed them with every ounce of strength she had.

"You were fighting against dad all the way and then he...h-he..." Ishara started to choke up a little bit.

Aero quickly but gently turned her in his lap and cupped her cheek making her gasp in surprise. "That's okay Ish; you don't need to go on." He whispered to her. She looked at him with glistening teary eyes and he offered a kind smile back. "although that would explain why you've had a death grip on me ever since we woke up." He added tightening the hug.

Much to Aero's dismay, talking about it had only made things worse it seemed. Ishara buried her head in his neck and wailed for what seemed like an age. It didn't matter to Aero though as he had a multitude of feelings flowing through him. He felt remorse at not being able to protect his sister like he promised and upsetting her by making her recount her horrifying nightmare. He felt confusion and worry at what was happening to himself and his sister with these bizarre visions. But most of all he felt anger, anger at the thing responsible for all of this, anger at the Wyvern.

Ishara had eventually calmed down; she had a vacant look, almost unseeing as they gazed aimlessly into space with her breath wheezing every now and again. It was strange, throughout the whole ordeal Ishara had wept and mourned almost relentlessly. But Aero hadn't cried, mourned nor even expressed some notion of sadness at his parents death; with the exception of the time down at the river and even that was at his inability to look after his sister after finding she had been infected with the Wyvern's venom.

It was almost like Ishara was bearing all of his grief on her own and he was left an emotionless husk left to pick up the pieces. He hated that he couldn't feel anything and he certainly wanted to but if he tried all he could think was the responsibility that now fell on him. He knew that he was nowhere near capable of taking on that much so early in his life and that made him feel weak, just like his mother said in his nightmare.

Aero continued to berate himself when a sudden realization hit him. He had allowed himself to fall asleep with the Wyvern still out there somewhere and leaving the both of them completely vulnerable. In his mind it was dumb luck that they were still alive but that still didn't make it alright.

"I'm sorry." Aero suddenly said.

Ishara pushed herself and looked at him. "What for?" she plainly asked looking slightly confused.

"I fell asleep when I should've been keeping watch."

Ishara suddenly flicked Aero on the chin surprising him. "I think you've done enough apologising for one day." She told him in a flinty way and he stared back befuddled at her objection. "It's a very unattractive trait ya know. I don't know how you expect to get a girlfriend if you keep apologising all the time." She smiled and lightly chuckled.

Aero couldn't help but smile at seeing her happy even if it was just for a moment. _"Maybe I'm not so hollow after all." _He thought relieved that he was wrong and able to feel something. "Oh yeah, well speaking of girlfriends." She raised an eyebrow wondering where he was going with this. "Did Luz finally make his move?" He said a little too mischievously for Ishara's own liking.

"I-I d-don't know what you're t-talking about." She responded tripping over her words and turning slightly red which was an achievement in itself due to her paling complexion.

Aero chuckled at her cute behaviour. "Ish, it's okay. I gave him my blessing when we were hiking." He patted her on the head.

She swatted his hand away like she always did whenever he patted her head. "Not that I needed it anyway. Besides, I made the first move." She retorted as she folded her arms.

"Whoa, really?" Aero exclaimed and he received a smug nod from Ishara. "Well what happened?" he asked relaxing back against the rock and waiting for her answer with a smile.

Her eyes darted around nervously a couple of times; she wasn't expecting to actually talk about this with her brother. "W-well when we went to collect firewood while you guys set up the tent, that's when it happened."

"Very sly. We all pretty much arranged it for you!" Aero said with a massive grin as he folded his legs over another and rested his hands behind his head.

"Smugness isn't a very attractive feature either." She muttered with another flick of his chin whilst admonishing him.

"Quit it." he grumbled as he batted the hand that flicked him.

She quickly got a playful poke at his cheek before she continued where she left off. "Like I was saying, we went to collect firewood. He started to what I assume was a confession, but he was stumbling so much over his words that I could barely understand him."

"Very reminiscent of when you two first met." Aero added still hanging on her every word.

"Tell me about it. Anyway as he babbled on I just decided to go for it and I kissed him." She muttered the last part.

"Way to go Ish." He clapped her on the shoulder.

"That pretty much broke him and it took a while before he came to his senses." They both shared a hearty laugh at this, but just like before the atmosphere of the situation soon killed it.

Ishara sighed heavily. "I hope they're both okay." She said resting her head on Aero's shoulder.

"I'm sure they are Ish." Aero said not really knowing their fate but not trying to depress his sister even more.

"Why weren't they at the riverbank?" she asked her eyes glancing up at him worriedly. "Do you think that thing got to them?"

"I-I don't know Ish, there's no way of knowing if...they...got..." His vision started to blur all of a sudden and he also felt very drowsy. Before he get another word out he collapsed onto the hard ground on his back unconscious.

"Aero!?" Ishara cried in both surprise and worry at this sudden development.

Ishara hovered over him shaking his shoulders trying to get some sort of response from him, however soon felt the same symptoms and she collapsed on top of him.

* * *

**AN: Here's where things might get a little racey.**

Aero dreamt he was back in his own room reading a book like he always did before bed. There was a strong wind blowing outside that made the windows rattle and cause a slight racket. But he was so engrossed with his book that he didn't really notice the noise outside. What did get his attention though was a knock at the door. Aero got out of bed and opened the door. He was greeted with the sight of Ishara standing outside in the dark hallway.

"What's the matter Ish?" he whispered. Ishara just looked left and right down the dark hallway in a shy and nervous manner. "Another nightmare?" Aero inquired and she timidly nodded in response while nonchalantly kicking at the floor. "Okay, come on in then." Not a second later she had scurried into his room, jumped on his bed and got under the covers.

This was a common occurrence whenever Ishara had a nightmare or when there was a particularly bad storm brewing. Not that it was any different in his room, but sometimes she just didn't want to be alone and sometimes they would just talk about trivial and frivolous things. Either way his presence alone always seemed to calm her no matter the situation.

Aero closed the door, walked over to his window to draw the curtains to try and block out the rattling sound from them. When he turned back around from the window he saw Ishara standing right in front him barely millimetres from his face and this expectedly made him a tad uncomfortable what with them both being in their sleepwear.

"Uh...Ish...you okay?" He managed to stutter out with a slightly nervous grin and being completely red in the face.

She didn't respond, she instead slipped her hand in his and pulled him towards the bed. She sat down on the bed and pulled him in front of her still holding his hand.

"Ish, what are you doing?" Aero whispered and at the same time sounding a little demanding.

Ishara still didn't respond. She took his hand, now in both of hers and brought it up to her cheek nuzzling into it with closed eyes.

"Ish, is something wrong?" He urged. This was very unlike Ishara whenever she came to his room. Normally she would just climb into his bed, have a little chat or he would read to her and then she would just fall asleep peacefully next to him.

"I'm sorry about this, it frightens me so much and I don't know what I'd do without you. You're always so good to me." She responded. "I know...I must...be such a burden." She added with a hitch in her breath and Aero saw a tear drop onto his hand holding her cheek.

Aero sighed and knelt before her. "Ish, you've never been a burden. I love spending time with you, you're my baby sister, I love you and I can't imagine anything else I'd rather do." He smiled and turned her head to look at him.

"I love you too, more than you know." She told him. "Let me show you how much I love you." She said in almost a whisper.

Before Aero could register what she actually said, she had taken his thumb in her mouth and lightly sucked on it. Aero immediately yanked his hand away from her and jumped back a few feet in shock. "Ish, stop that! What the hell are you doing!?" he snapped.

"I'm showing you how much you mean to me." She said as she slowly rose to her feet. "I know what all boys want."

"Ish, stay back." Aero said sounding very nervous and a little bit scared.

She didn't heed him and padded straight over to him. Without hesitation she threw her arms around him and kissed him hard on the mouth. Aero's eyes go wide and he promptly shoves her off of him only for her to come straight back at him.

She lightly shoved him into the wall and pinned him there. "GET OFF OF M-!" Aero tried to cry out before he was cut off by her lips crashing into his in another rough kiss. He tried to push her back but she had him pinned with unnatural strength that was in no way hers. She finally relented and came away from his lips to move down to his neck. Aero looked away trying to distract himself from Ishara's incestuous behaviour; all the while still trying to push her away from him, which proved more than difficult due to her outlandish strength. "I don't know what you are, but aren't my sister!" he cried out as he managed to finally push her off of his neck.

An impish grin appeared on Ishara's face when Aero looked back down at her. "What? Why would you say that?" She said trying to sound innocent, but it if anything she sounded absolutely menacing. "Don't you love your baby sister like she loves you?" she caressed a hand under his pyjama top and up his chest. "I have feelings and you're the one person in the world who could really break my heart.

She ran her hand up to his collarbone and brought her other hand up to drape them around his neck. Her motions may have looked delicate and soft; but some unseen or supernatural force was holding Aero in place and he couldn't hold her back anymore.

Aero looked her square in the eye and his expression was one of absolute rage. "If you were my sister, you'd know what you're about to do is wrong." The room suddenly became much darker and Aero's eyes turned a faint glowing blue with small wisps of vapour emanating from them. "You are not Ishara!" He growled with his eyes now turned completely blue and there was vapour now spilling forth from them. "NOW STOP THIS!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

A wicked grin appeared on Ishara's face. "If I'm not your sister like you say, then what's stopping you?" She said in a sultry tone. She took a step back to give Aero a full view of her. "You can kiss me however you like, put your hands wherever you want, do whatever you want to me." She purred and as she said this she was running her hands up and down her body in a seductive manner.

Aero scowled at her. "You're sick!" she recoiled a little bit in fright at his yelling. "How dare you use my sister against me like this!" he managed to regain some movement in his body and took a step away from the wall. "SHE'S NINE YEARS OLD FOR MONTY'S SAKE!"

This seemed to trigger something in the Ishara doppelganger as she quickly lunged forward, grabbed Aero by the neck and pushed him back up the wall using her unrealistic strength. The Blue glow from Aero's eyes instantly dissipated and the mist coming from them soon went as well. His legs were kicking off of the wall wildly as Ishara slowly choked him and looked up at him with eyes that were burning with what could only be described as feverish lust.

"Ya know; it's a shame really, I could've been all yours if you'd just been more submissive." She calmly told him as she turned his head slightly in her grip. "I would have done anything you wanted me to." She turned his head back the other way and by now his struggling had weakened. "We'd've grown old together and it could've oh been so romantic." She suddenly grabbed his crotch and a wicked grin crept its way on her face. "Still, there's no use letting everything go to waste." She purred.

With that she turned and threw him at the bed and he landed perfectly on it but broke the frame in the process. Once she had let go Aero spluttered to life taking in ragged breaths and groaned from the impact. He slowly sat up rubbing his throat just in time to see Ishara leap at him, push him back, pin him down and hold his wrist's above his head as she kissed him hard on the mouth whilst she straddled him. In the heat of the moment she had gripped his wrists too tight and broken both of them and whether it was accidental or on purpose Aero honestly couldn't tell.

The Ishara doppelganger pulled her lips from his and looked down at him with grim determination. "Don't fight it big brother, I want this and I know you want this." She leaned back down and whispered into his ear. "And it's going to happen whether you like it or not." she nibbled on his ear ash simultaneously ground her crotch into his pelvis and moaned as she did so.

"Please…stop this." Aero begged his voice raspy and with eyes glazed over from nearly dying of asphyxiation.

The doppelganger let go of his ear and sat back up with a pout. "Awwwww." She moaned playfully which just came across as plain sinister. She took one Aero's hands out of her grasp and placed it on her collarbone. With his wrists being broken and her freakish strength, he was entirely at her mercy. "You mean to tell me you don't…" she continued as she dragged his hand down just past her chest and lightly tugged it on her tank top. "Want to be…" now down to just above her belly. "Inside this tight…" she circled her navel once with his hand. "young…" she took his hand further down to the waistband of her pyjama bottoms. "virgin…" she slipped his hand past the waistband and she let out a soft moan. "pus-." Before she could finish Aero had mustered as much strength as he could and kicked her off of him sending her tumbling across the room.

Aero slowly sat up with a very painful groan, he could see the doppelganger slumped against the wall and he couldn't care less. But it still had the visage of his sister and his brotherly instincts kicked in no matter how much he fought them.

"Ish?" he said hesitantly

Her shoulders started to shake and Aero could hear her begin to laugh. His brotherly instincts left just as quickly as they had arisen and he was now very wary of her once again. He laugh soon developed into what could only be described as a maniacal cackle.

Ishara threw her head back with huge grin plastered on her face and continued her demented chortle. "I didn't know you were into the rough stuff Aero!" she sang merrily as she slowly rose to her feet.

Small patches of the same black tarry substance that ailed the real Ishara soon started to appear on random places of her skin and quickly began to spread all over her body melting her sleepwear off as it went.

Her voice became heavily distorted and menacing. "Give a girl a chance." The venom had now made up to her head and completely enveloped it.

Her raven black hair moulted off and drifted to the floor; while her eyes soon turned a solid red and glowed like fire. She breathed out a low growl and let out a corrupted cackle. "Like what you see baby?" She asked running her hands over her bare venom covered form.

Aero sat there absolutely petrified at what he just witnessed and even if he was lucid enough to do anything something in those crimson eyes welded him to the spot. Then all of a sudden in the blink of an eye the room was plunged into darkness, it was only for a split second but it was long enough for the doppelganger to vanish from sight.

Aero broke out of his stupor when the twisted form of Ishara disappeared and he sprang up from the broken bed before positioning himself in the middle of the room. He peered into the darkness looking for any sign of the demonic being he knew was still in the room. Aero had trouble focusing though as the pain in his wrists was pumping so much adrenaline his vision and balance were very much compromised; but he thought for a moment, the adrenaline alone shouldn't make him this sluggish, there was something else at work here.

"Awww, did I break the poor little birdies wings?" the doppelganger taunted from the shadows. "Is the biiiiiig hero gonna cry."

True to her word tears had started to well up and sting his eyes; the very notion of having to harm his sister even if it was just something imitating her made him sick to his stomach. _"She isn't real,_ _it's all a nightmare, and you just have to wake up!" _Aero repeated this over and over in his head like a mantra.

"Would you like me to kiss it all better?" Aero caught a glimpse of Ishara's glowing eyes as she continued her jabs but they moved too fast for his lethargic reflexes. "I'm the only one who could ever really love you like you deserve." He heard her skittering about the room like a predator stalking its prey.

"Now why don't you just sit back and enjoy…" Ishara started and Aero looked around in a panic trying to pinpoint her. "…THE RIDE!" she yelled as she lunged into a flying roundhouse kick and hit Aero straight in the face sending him back onto the bed. The doppelganger once again pounced on him and pinned him to the bed. "You have no idea how long I've wanted this, I want nothing more than to please you." She moaned out with her ghastly corrupted voice. She smashed her mouth against his and forced her tongue straight down his throat.

Aero felt the tongue slither all the way down his oesophagus and it tasted of death. She'd had him on the ropes ever since he first protested and alongside the supernatural forces acting against him he was totally spent. He had kept his eyes closed ever since she had kicked him and in his exhausted state he just prayed for it to be over as quickly as possible; but he soon felt something else accompanying the salacious assault on his mouth. He cracked open his eyes and saw nothing but the black abyss of the doppelgangers oozing skin in front of him.

She thankfully relented after an agonisingly long moment; she push up from him dragging her tongue out of his throat as she did and Aero could see now that it was at least two foot long and looked more like that of a reptiles. It whipped its way back into her mouth with globs of the venom flying off as it lashed around and touched her lips sucking her fingers as she rocked back and forth on top of him. "You taste incredible." She panted out.

While she was preoccupied Aero brought his now free hand up to his mouth and felt the same sticky tarry feel of the wyvern's venom. The doppelganger had excreted it all the while she had her tongue down his throat and he was now violently trying to cough it up which proved futile in his weakened state.

"I want to more of you." The corrupted Ishara moaned out, almost desperately.

Aero looked around weakly still coughing and spluttering up the venom that now also covered the entirety of his torso from the succubus' constant gyrating. His vision was slowly growing dark as the venom started to take its toll on him.

"It's…..not…..real." Aero managed to say between the continued coughing and spluttering on the venom filling his mouth as tears spilled freely from his eyes.

"Then I guess this won't hurt." Ishara said with a deranged giggle.

He looked up at the demon straddling him and she threw her hands out to the side. She started grunting as if she were in pain; then with a loud shriek long claws broke through the ooze on her fingers and splattered the venom all over the walls. The doppelgangers claws were very similar to the Ulrich's claws when he was corrupted; only hers were more like needles rather than razors and they extended from each finger instead of combining into three larger claws.

The twisted copy of Ishara looked back down at Aero and caressed on of her clawed hands down his face. "This may be a dream…" she started in a calm manner. "BUT ISHARA WILL DIE!" she screamed as gripped his face and brought her other hand up winding it back. Aero's eyes went wide and he moved to stop her. But it was too late and she plunged her claws straight at him.

* * *

"NO!" Aero screamed shooting straight up into a sitting position. His heart was racing so fast he thought he would go into cardiac arrest then and there. His face was drenched in sweat and his breathing was heavy.

He took a moment to steady his breath before he looked around and gave his eyes a chance to adjust to the darkness. It was only then that he noticed the fire had completely burnt out and he was actually glad to see he was back in the dingy cave he had started to become so familiar with.

Aero felt what he assumed was Ishara, the real Ishara in his arms. He fumbled with his belt for moment searching for one of his pouches and once he eventually felt his way to one pulled out the lighter that Luz had given him that he had stowed their earlier.

It took him a couple of strikes to light it due to the dampness in the air from the storm and the small lighter created a dim glow in the cavern. Aero looked down and he did indeed see Ishara in his arms; but she was very limp, her eyes were open and looked vacant almost like she was in a trance.

Aero set the lighter down so that it stood up whilst still alight. "Ish?" he whispered as he shook her gently. "Ish?!" he said with more urgency. "Ishara!" he cried out shaking her more vigorously.

Ishara jolted at this and gasped for air. Her eyes were darting around and bugging out of head as she took in panicked breaths.

"Ish, it's okay, I'm here." Aero soothed.

"A-aero?" she stuttered out and managing to focus her eyes a little bit.

"Yeah, it's me." Aero smiled.

Ishara started squirming all of sudden and whimpering as she did. "G-get off me!" she weakly cried.

"What?" Aero asked confusedly.

"GET OFF OF ME!" she shrieked. She grabbed a nearby rock off the ground and struck Aero across the face with it.

He fell backwards holding his face in pain and Ishara crawled out of grasp away from him.

"Owww! Dammit Ish." He grunted out as he staggered back up to a sitting position. The blow had left a cut just to the right of his chin going about halfway up the jaw stopping just short of his mouth.

He saw Ishara weakly dragging herself away from him and she was whimpering as tears streamed down her face. "It's not him, he's not real." She mutters out repeatedly.

"Ish, what's wrong?" Aero asked approaching Ishara as she continued pushing herself away.

"No more, please." She screamed.

Aero grabs her by one of her ankles and drags her back a few feet towards him. "Ish, it's me! It's Aero!" he exclaimed grabbing her shoulders and pinning her under him.

Ishara didn't listen though as she grabbed the first thing she could which unfortunately was Aero's flip knife; her movements were panicked but fast, she slashed wildly upwards and cut him diagonally across the root of his nose.

Aero grimaced at this but didn't let it faze him too much. He grabbed the wrist of the hand that held the knife and held it away from the both of them. H was able slip the knife out of her hand and chucked it away sending it sliding across the cave floor.

Ishara squeezed her eyes shut with tears still pouring like a waterfall. "Please, it hurts!" she choked out as she pushed up at him.

Aero brought his hands to her face cupping her cheeks. "Ish, you're safe, whatever was in your nightmare can't get you now." He whispered to her and her eyes peeled open slightly. "I promise, okay. Whatever happened, I will not let happen again." He wiped away some of her tears.

She closed her eyes again and continued sobbing only less hysterically this time. Aero pulled her up to hug her and she slowly returned it. Aero sat up gently cradling her in his arms just like he had been doing all night and Ishara's weeping slowly subsided. A trickle of blood trailed down his face from the wound staining parts of both his and Ishara's clothes.

Aero ignored this for now and waited for a moment until Ishara had calmed herself. "It…it was the same as mine again, wasn't it?" he asked nervous and afraid of the reply.

She clutched onto his shirt bunching it up in her hands. "You…he was so…rough with me." She stammered out. "He…did things, vile things." She added tearing up again.

Aero ran his through her hair. "That wasn't me, it was all a nightmare and it didn't happen. You know I would never hurt you, ever right?" he said.

Ishara turned her head to the side slightly. "Hold me." She whimpered out and Aero wrapped his arms entirely around her in a tight hug.

That was it; that was when Aero knew there was something else definitely at work here and looks like it wouldn't stop until they both were either dead or enthralled. He had to find an alternative or at least some way to at least spare his sister. He was soon broken out of his thoughts when Ishara shifted slightly in his embrace.

"Aero?" she said quietly.

"Hmm, how you doing?" he responded.

"I'm Okay now. But it's dark." She said.

Aero hadn't even noticed that when he was dealing with Ishara's panic attack he had knocked over his lighter and extinguished it.

"Oh sorry, the fire burned out and I was using my lighter but I must've knocked it over or maybe the wind got to it." He replied before he felt around behind him for the brass lighter.

Aero shuffled back a little bit with his sister still in his arms and found it next to the burnt out fire. He struck it back alight and brought close to him and Ishara.

"How's that?" Aero smiled down at her.

"I-It's still dark." Ishara said

"What?" Aero said puzzled. He brought the flame closer and held in front of Ishara's face while he waved his other hand in front of it.

Ishara wasn't responding to the flicker. It was only then in the light that he noticed the infection had spread further. It was now covering a small part of her cheeks and her temples. Aero deduced that this is what robbed her of her eyesight and this probably didn't help her emotional state at all when she awoke from her nightmare.

"Aero, what's wrong with me?" she weakly asked with a catch in her throat.

Aero didn't respond immediately. How do you tell you baby sister that on top of everything that's happened this day that she won't be able to see ever again as far as he knew. He kissed her on the forehead and the reassuring taste of her skin on his lips told him that she was still here and alive; he was going to take care of her and not let her tackle this alone.

"Nothing's wrong with you Ish." Aero told her with her smile. He didn't know why he put on a smile when Ishara obviously couldn't see, but she was always good at picking up on his emotions both on the surface and underneath without even having to look at him.

Ishara turned in his arms to face towards him. "You're a terrible liar you know that?" she smirked up at him.

Aero returned the smile. "Oh really?" he replied as he relaxed back against the same rock they had slept against earlier.

Ishara shut her eyes. "Yeah and I'm still not entirely convinced you're the real Aero."

He shifted slightly for her comfort. "Oh yeah, well in that case I better tell you something only your favourite brother would know." He said brushing a few strands of hair out of her face only for a few locks to fall out, his smile faltered at this but only momentarily so as not to alarm Ishara.

"My 'favourite' brother? What I have others?" Ishara said with a light giggle.

"No and with the nightmares we've been having that is the best news of all." Aero responded with a snicker as he set his lighter down next to them.

Ishara face grew more serious and she pulled herself up so she was level with him. She looked him dead in the eye despite her blindness and Aero could see the concern in them. "Please Aero, tell me something. Tell me something only he would know. I have to know it's really you." She said and with those sightless big blue eyes practically begging him he wasn't about to deny her.

Aero hugged her closer. "Okay then. Do you remember that trip we took to the beach when we visited grandma and grandpa around four years ago?" he asked her and she timidly nodded in response. "Well I remember that we both got sunburnt." He chuckled remembering this himself. "We were both as red as lobsters and it hurt like hell. I remember you cried the whole time because of the burns and on the way home you held onto my hand so tightly it was like you were afraid I was gonna disappear." He paused to take on her hands in his. "And if that doesn't convince you, this will. When we got home you still hadn't let go of my hand and I asked why. You told me that as long as you held my hand and didn't let go that the pain would go away." He finished with a gentle smile and Ishara rested her head on his shoulder.

She sighed and her eyes fluttered open. "I was always so helpless without you. I must've been such a burden, I'm sorry." She said turning her face into his chest.

Aero digested what Ishara had just said; it reminded him of the horrible entity that took her form in his own nightmare and he wasn't going to let that worm its way back into his thoughts.

Aero cupped the back of her head. "Ish, don't ever say that again. You've never been a burden. I love spending time with you, you're my baby sister, I love you and I can't imagine anything else I'd rather do." He told her repeating the same speech he told the doppelganger before he knew what it really was. "And don't say sorry, wasn't it you who said that apologising profusely was an 'unattractive quality' in people?" he quipped.

"That proves it then." Ishara tittered.

"Am I in the clear then?" Aero asks facetiously.

"Yeah, it's definitely you." Ishara replied. "Don't know whether that's an improvement or not." She smiled pinching his chin between her finger and thumb.

Aero put on a face of feign shock. "Ish, you wound me with your words." He said in dramatized voice and they both laughed.

When their laughter died down Ishara spoke up. "That nightmare felt so real and I'm glad it's really you here with me."

"Same here, you were much more…amorous in mine and I…I don't think I would've been able to harm you." He told her his voice filled with anguish as he continued. "I knew it was just mimicking you, but it looked and sounded just like you."

Ishara shifted her head into his neck and nuzzled into it. "That what sets you apart from your copy in my dream." She softly told him. "He was aggressive, demanding and…and he hurt me." She scrunched her face up slightly at recalling the abuse she suffered at her brother's copy. She reached up and softly kissed his cheek before returning her head back to his neck. "He was nothing like you. My kind, caring, strong and lovely brother." She added in a cozy tone with a gentle smile.

Aero expression didn't change. "I'm sor-…saddened that you had to go through that." He proceeded to rekindle the fire with last of the twigs stockpiled.

Ishara smirked. "Good save there." She sighed as she slid an arm around Aero's waist. "They're only going to get worse, aren't they? The nightmares I mean." She asked.

Aero sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "It looks like it." He hugged Ishara closer. "But I'm not gonna give up just like that." He added with confidence.

"It's this sticky stuff that's doing it, isn't it?" Ishara wondered.

"I think so. In the nightmare you changed just like dad did before he…" Aero trailed off momentarily before resuming. "You were all covered in that black stuff and had really long claws. The same happened in yours I take it?" he said looking down at her and her expression told him all he needed to know.

Ishara soon broke down in tears and sobbed into Aero's shirt. "Oh Aero! I don't want to become one of those things!" she cried out slightly muffled by Aero's chest.

Aero hugged her even closer and squeezed her tight. "You're not gonna turn into one of them! You're not gonna become whatever dad became! And you are going to be just fine!" he muttered through gritted teeth and for the first time that whole night he had actually shed fully flowing tears.

Ishara pushed up from him abruptly. "Knock it off!" she yelled and Aero looked at her a little shock at this outburst. "Stop saying everything's going to be alright when we both know that I am going to die and then become some kind of an abomination!" Her sightless eyes were ablaze as she said this and Aero could have sworn he saw them turn a bright green at one point.

Ishara words cut him like razors; she was giving up on her own life without any consideration what it would do to him. "You'd be better off just leaving me and tak-." Ishara was cut short when Aero suddenly slapped her across the face and she held her reddened cheek in shock.

"How can you say that Ish!?" Aero yelled as she moved out of his lap and sat on the ground a few inches away from him. "Do you have any idea what that would do to me if you died!" he grabbed her shoulders and turned her back to him with tears in his eyes. "I can't live without you Ish!" Ishara gasped when he pulled her into a sudden hug and after a moment's hesitation she pulled him to her pressing her head into his shoulder. "Don't ever leave me, not like that." he begged her kissing her forehead and then pecking her on the cheek.

Ishara now realised what she had just told him earlier and she now felt like the monster she was so afraid of becoming. "I-I won't, I won't ever leave you." She said, and Aero could feel the tears streaming down her face and running over onto his own cheek, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to scare or upset you. I couldn't help it I'm so sorry. I wouldn't ever leave you, I love you so much, Aero."

"I love you too Ish and you don't have to apologize." Aero told her, his fear and worry for his sister swelling up inside him, "I just want to hold onto you."

"Hold me as long as you want." She said, still crying, "I love you so much, I'll do whatever you want me to."

"Stay alive and stay with me. That's all I want." Aero stated as he started to calm down.

"If that's what you want, I-I'll try." Ishara spoke in a low whisper.

A moment later they had both settled down and at some point Ishara had drifted off to sleep still clinging onto her elder brother as if her life depended on it.

Aero shifted slightly to get more comfortable while carefully cradling Ishara in his arms when she suddenly woke up, jerked out of his grasp and hunched forward.

"Ishara?" Aero murmured just from the brink of falling asleep himself.

Ishara didn't respond to him. Before he could say anything more she vomited all over his leg and onto the cave floor.

"Ish!" Aero exclaimed in alarm. She started to wobble after she had finished and Aero grabbed her to steady her.

Ishara went into another panic attack and here breathing was more laboured than ever before. "I…I can feel it, it's getting worse." She croaked out with half-lidded eyes.

Aero really didn't know what to do or say anymore; this thing was viral and now it was clear there was no coming back from this. He tenderly wrapped his arms around her stomach and rested his head on top hers as she convulsed every now and again in aftermath of the episode.

Ishara took in a few deep breaths before she spoke. "The venom, it's…it's making me want to hurt you." She hugged his arms as tight as she could. Her nails that had grown from the infection dug into his skin, but he wasn't about to let her out of his grasp.

"This thing is going to kill us both if we don't do something about it." Aero said. Ishara was panting from the exertion and curled up into a ball. "I'm open to idea's." he added with a weak half-hearted laugh.

"Besides the obvious?" Ishara muttered ominously.

Aero's face grew concerned. "What do you mean?"

Ishara turned back around to face him and just sat there looking at him with unseeing eyes. "Forget about it." she said sadly looking down and away.

Aero dismissed this worrying and obscure proposal for now, the ominous nature of it alone terrified him and he had to get his mind on something else. "I'm gonna go get this cleaned and bandaged." He gently lifted Ishara out of his lap and moved to get up.

"Do what now?" she quickly said.

Aero turned back to her and smiled. "Don't worry about it; you just got a little uppity when you woke up blind." He explained patting her head and she didn't push his hand away this time.

"Well, why didn't you say anything?" She exclaimed. "Get back here and let me tend to it." She ordered grasping at the air searching for one of his hands.

Aero gently took her outstretched hand and held it. "Okay, but we're gonna need some water to clean it and last I looked we were all out." He slipped his hand out of hers and snatched up his discarded canteen from the ground. He didn't tell Ishara of the extent of the damage she had done to him; he knew she didn't mean it and they were barely worse than scratches by his reckoning.

"Hurry back!" Ishara called out.

"I will!" Aero replied with a pointless wave as he made his way out of the cave.

Exiting the cave he noticed that the rain had let up quite a bit and only coming down in a light drizzle; The wind had decreased into a gentle breeze with the occasional gust, the sun was threatening to peak over a low mountain range on the other side of the woods beneath the cave entrance and the whole scene could've been described as tranquil if it wasn't for the gravity of the situation.

Aero moved along the rock shelf and found a trickle of water coming down from above the shelf. The rain had let up so much that he wouldn't be able to just leave the canteen out in the open to fill up and so he quickly set up the canteen to catch as much as he could before the water stopped pouring.

He sat down on the ground next to a mini stream that had formed from the trickle and vocalised a relaxing sigh. He splashed some water on his hands and cleaned off as much as he could of Ishara's vomit from his pant leg. He re-wet his hands, and then cupped a good amount of it before splashing it on his face and washing any of the dried blood from his face as well as cleaning out the two wounds.

Aero decided he would tend to his wounds out here and now. He came to this resolve on the premise he didn't want Ishara to know these wounds were worse than he made out initially. He knew it would be awkward and it was only then that he noticed he had nothing obvious to bandage with. He let out an annoyed groan and held his head in his hands by his chin absently tapping the side his head with his fingers. Then he had an idea or at least half of one. He looked down at his shirt, it was riddled with holes and tears from the calamity that was his birthday camping trip. Discarding any sentimental value the shirt held he ripped off the sleeve that was barely holding on by a thread and tore it into a lengthy strip.

The wound on his chin was barely a scrape by Aero's reckoning so the wound on his on his brow took priority. He started wrapping around his head so the cloth rested on his brow but for the life of him no matter how many times he tied he couldn't get it to stay on the wound, it turned out bandaging the his own head proved more difficult than he first thought.

Aero sighed and let the bandage fall from his head. _"dammit, I'm gonna need Ish's help."_ He thought looking back towards the cave entrance which had become too much like a home for his liking. _"Then again she already thinks of herself as a burden despite my assurance that she isn't, this might at least show that she isn't."_ A smile made its way onto his face but then faded; he sighed again and looked down at the ground at the canteen that was still filling up. _"But then she'll see...feel the extent of the wound." _He jumped up onto his feet, tucked the sleeve/bandage into his trouser pocket and picked up the now full canteen before making his way back the cave. _"I guess I'll just have to think of something on the fly."_ He thought angrily to himself for not thinking ahead.

Aero walked back in the cave to see Ishara sitting up and next to the fire. "Any messages while I was out?" he joked with a smile kneeling down next to Ishara who didn't respond. "Ish?" He looked her over and she appeared fine but he noticed something resting in her hands, it was his flip knife, he didn't see where it went during her panic after waking up and she must've looked for it while he was out. "Ish, give me that." He said as calmly as he could manage.

She sat absolutely still like a statue; her sightless eyes reflected the fire and the flickering flame highlighted the extent of the infection across her once adorable features. "It's the only way." She quietly mumbled.

Aero snatched the knife from her hand. "What do you mean 'it's the only way?!" he yelled absolutely aghast. "Was this what you meant earlier when you talked about the obvious solution?! What about when you said that you wouldn't let this thing beat you?! Were those just hollow promises?!" He grabbed her shoulders and she yelped a little. "You don't get to make that decision!" he practically screamed at her when he said this.

Seeing her with the knife in her hand virtually saying that she was going to end her life may as well have put the knife though Aero's heart, but the cold way in which she said like it was the most righteous thing in the world felt like someone had cut it out.

"I can't remember them." She said in a soft almost haunting voice and ignoring Aero's tone.

"what?" Aero said absolutely puzzled.

"I can't remember their faces." She said in the same eerie tone.

"Whose faces Ish?" Aero asked still completely in the dark.

"M-mom and dad's." She said with a little more volume but still maintain the eerie tone.

"It's the venom, it's just gotta be." Aero said mainly to himself. _"How did this go downhill so fast? I was barely out there for five minutes and now she's forgetting the people closest to her. D-does she r-remember me?" _He had a look of sheer horror at this notion.

Aero slowly turned to Ishara who was still sitting incredibly still and still in a trance like state. "Ish." He said hesitantly and she slowly looked up at him like a drunk that lost a bet. "Do you...know who I am?"

Ishara's expression instantly brightened up and her eyes came alive. "Of course I do!" she said merrily but still stared into space. The sudden change did unnerve Aero slightly. "I won't forget you that easily." She smiled.

Aero settled down next to her and put an arm around her. "The rain's stopped and the sun is out by the way." He said as he discreetly returned his knife to his belt.

"C-can we sit outside then?" she timidly asked.

Aero smiled at this. "Ish, you know you can't see right." He said almost teasingly.

Ishara pinched his arm making him yelp sarcastically. "Oh that's real charming of you, make fun of the blind girl." She said whilst grinning from ear to ear.

"I thought you were the one who told me to hurry back so that you could bandage me up like a mummy and play doctor." Aero said rivalling her smile.

"Can we please just go outside, just for a little bit?" Ishara asked borderline pleaded.

"Alright, alright, you win." Aero said patting one of her hands. "Hold this." He said placing his canteen in her lap and she held it close to her.

Aero shifted around and gently picked up Ishara and cradled her in his arms. He slowly walked out into the fresh air of the outside carrying his sister, sat down on the edge of a flat rock plate setting Ishara beside him and she leaned against him resting her head back on his shoulder.

They sat in silence for a moment until Ishara let out a relaxed sigh and looped her arm around Aero's arm. "This is why I wanted to come out here." Ishara quietly spoke and Aero looked over down at her to see her staring blindly out across the woods before them. "Being blind isn't so bad you know; the wind feels even more amazing than it already did, the birds chirping sounds so much sweeter," It was then that Aero had only just noticed the bird calls coming from the trees. "And the sun's warmth is second only to this." She stated hugging his arm tighter.

A moment of silence set in before Ishara spoke up again. "What did mom and dad look like? I keep trying to picture them and...and it's just emptiness."

Aero took a deep breath before he spoke. "Well mom; she was absolutely beautiful and that was only surpassed by her childish behaviour, her hair was like silk and she always had smile on her face that would cheer up even the loneliest of souls. Her eyes were full of fire when you looked at them but that only showed her utter devotion to doing what was right." He let out a sigh when he finished. "We were...lucky to have her as our mother."

Aero rested his head on top of Ishara and took in another deep breath. "And dad; people say I looked a lot like him, but in my opinion he always looked a little scruffy face wise, then again that kind of made his look when paired with his modest but smart dress sense. He had the same fire in his eyes as mom did and I guess that comes with the job when you're Hunters, but his face that when you looked at it seemed to say that no matter what everything was going to be alright." He kissed Ishara on the top of the head before adding. "He was...a true hero if there ever was one."

"And now they're gone." Ishara said in a low glum voice.

**Music cue: Euterpe- Egoist (piano, low volume.)**

Aero looked up skyward; thinking back to their parents brought up their last moments in his mind, it sickened him to think that the only memory Ishara actually has of them is of their demise and how it all happened right in front of his and hers eyes. He had pretended to himself all through the night that everything would go back to the way it used to be, he felt a complete fool for carrying on the charade, he had lied to himself and worst of all he had given Ishara false hope. He felt such a hypocrite, making Ishara swear to stay with him, no telling what she would have to go through with the Wyverns venom coursing through her veins and turning her own body and mind against her until she breaks. Every time he would think about Ishara's fate he would purposely push it to the back of his mind or distract himself with paltry reasons and now there was no more hiding from the cruel ultimatum being forced upon him.

For his parents.

He knew what he had to do and it was the one thing he was afraid of doing the most.

For his sister.

He knew what he had to do and it was something that would blacken his soul forever.

And for himself.

He knew what he had to and it was something that he was destined for.

The sun had just crept onto to his face illuminating his bruised and cut up face and the warmth brought him no comfort at all. A solitary tear ran down Aero's face. "I don't want you to leave me Ish." He choked out his voice cracking slightly.

"I don't want to either...a-and I won't." She whispered back. Aero brought a hand up to wipe away the lone tear while simultaneously bring his other around clasping it in hers that was wrapped around his arm, she intertwined her fingers with his and pressed her face into his arm.

"Aero, promise me something; promise me that you won't die, no matter what happens, no matter what you do, promise me that you won't throw your life away." Her voice raised in volume ever so slightly as she said this.

"Ish, I-I-I..." he stammered.

"Promise me." She said sternly. She turned towards Aero and he turned towards her. Aero pulled Ishara into a loving embrace and she gladly returned it. Aero soon loosened the hug a little and Ishara pulled herself into his lap resting up against her brothers knee that he had propped up for her.

Ishara raised a hand up with her pinkie extended towards Aero and he couldn't but crack a weak smile at this cute gesture. He shakily brought his hand up to meet hers. "I promise you Ishara, I won't die." He said forcing a smile onto his face. He wrapped his pinkie around hers, lined up there knuckles, touched the tips of their thumbs together and gently bobbed both of their hand up and down.

"Thank you." She said gratefully and softly. "Everything we've been through tonight and this morning is only going to get worse like you said." She added now fully holding Aero's hand. "And I'm not going to let this...whatever it is consume me."

"I know...and I won't let it either."

"You know what I'm asking of you?" She said slightly taken aback by his sudden acceptance and he nodded while gently squeezing her hand. "I wanna go while I still have memories of you at least." Ishara pulled herself up slightly. "I think it's about time we got you bandaged up, don't cha think?"

"Go ahead." Aero muttered.

"Stop acting so down would you." Ishara lightly scolded.

"Sorry."

"I'll allow that one apology because you were right to." She playfully tells him off. "Now where are you hurt?" she softly asked bringing herself level with Aero.

He brings the torn shirt sleeve up to his face and places it over the wound on his brow. "Up here, just wrap this around my head; I've already put the bandage in place."

Ishara reaches up to his head and takes hold of the material. "This is your shirt sleeve isn't it?" she inquired with a frown.

Aero actually chuckled at this before responding. "The thing was in shreds anyway, don't worry I'll get a replacement in town."

Ishara smiled and started wrapping the sleeve around Aero's head as held it over the wound. "Aero?" She said as she continued bandaging.

"Yeah?" He replied curiously raising an eyebrow and crinkling the dressing slightly.

Ishara felt the bandage shift slightly and moved to redo it before speaking up. "There's something I want you to remember." Ishara finished straightening out the bandage and Aero sat in silence waiting for her to resume. "Always remember that...the world can be a very kind place, you...only have to look for It." she tittered a little before continuing. "But I shouldn't have to tell you this." She brought a hand down from his head and rested it on his cheek. "After all, you're the one who showed me it was." She slowly took her hand back up and returned to the task of finishing the wrapping.

Aero shakily moves a hand to his belt and retrieves his knife slowly pulling out the blade. He holds it between them pointed straight at Ishara and his had was shaking so uncontrollably that he could barely keep a hold of the blade. Aero's eyes are already watering when Ishara suddenly place a hand on top of his holding the knife. He gasps in surprise at her touch but it also calms him down and his hand steadies under hers.

"It's okay." Ishara coos softly.

"I...I-I can't do it." Aero stammers out with tears now flowing freely.

"Yes you can." She calmly tells him, she pulls his hand forward and lines up the tip of the blade just under her sternum. She leaves it there and goes back to finish the bandage.

"You...you were the perfect sister." He chokes out sliding an arm around her shoulder.

Ishara ties a knot in the bandage after one final wrap around Aero's head. "You were the best brother a girl could ask for." She responded with warmest of smiles.

With that he lurched forward holding the knife steady and pulled Ishara into a bittersweet embrace. Ishara didn't flinch nor express any pain; the venom by now had numbed most of her senses so she didn't even feel the blade plunge in, she just wrapped her arms around her brother with the same warm smile on her face.

"I love you Ish." Aero whispered, his voice cracking in the process.

"I love you too Aero." She affectionately whispered back.

They both pulled back from one another slightly and they both were smiling warmly at each other as if all was right in the world. Ishara's eyes were glowing a brilliant solid green while Aero's shone a powerful but calm blue. Ishara's entire body soon began to glow the same green as her eyes. Aero leaned forward and kissed Ishara's forehead before tucking her head under his chin, holding her tightly to him and squeezing his eyes shut as tight as he could.

No matter how tight his hold was on her, Aero could feel her slipping away both physically and spiritually. The glow coming from Ishara's body intensified, bathing the whole area in a brilliant eruption of light that could be seen all the way to Verbist and beyond.

Aero felt a flood of memories enter into his mind's eye.

He saw when Ishara was first brought into his life, with her tiny frail form in his mother's arms before she handed her to him.

He saw himself vowing to be the best brother he could be.

He saw himself and Ishara when she was sick and when he gave her his old blanket.

He saw Him and her walking to school hand in hand like they did everyday.

He saw himself beaten and bruised with a frightened Ishara behind him as he defended her from a couple of bullies.

He saw a sunburnt and crying Ishara holding onto his hand like her life depended on it.

Lastly, He saw him and Ishara sitting on a log in front of a fire, with Ishara gently leaning on him, except this time there were others. Sitting alongside them were their mother and father, and Luz and Andy. They were sitting at their old camp and they were just...staring into the fire, without a care in the world. The scene was absolutely silent, with only the gentle crackle of the fire. He wished he could go back to this precise moment in time, and he would honestly be completely happy to live out the rest of his life frozen in that one single time in his life.

As usual though, fate had other plans though.

The light ultimately faded though and Aero fell forward onto his hands and knees with his eyes returning to their normal chestnut colour. Ishara was gone, vanished into thin air and leaving behind an emptiness in Aero's arms, beyond other things.

He felt a tidal wave of emotions sweep away any sense of everything around him. He had lost sensation in his body as he found himself unable to do anything, save for squeeze his eyes shut and pray for this whole ordeal to be one bad dream. He wanted it to be true that what he had been denying all night and what he had inevitably forced himself to do was just a figment of his evidently screwed up mind.

But, no. He knew what he did.

Ishara was gone, and that was that.

Aero shook and convulsed a few times before he suddenly slammed his fist down into the ground.

"I-Ish..." he whimpered out, letting tears and spittle quickly pooling on the ground beneath him.

He slammed his down again, harder this time.

"Ishara..." He was blubbering now.

Again he slammed his fist down to the ground again and he was sure he broke a few knuckles this time, but he didn't care.

He threw his head up towards the sky and howled so loud and fiercely it would have terrified the Wyvern himself.

"ISHARAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

He continued screaming her name and smashing his hands against the floor until they were bloody and mangled beyond recognition. As the sun reflected off the rain still coating the ground around him, it made the whole area glisten and created a twisted contrasting scene to the one it held.

His cries echoed through the woods and mountains around him creating a symphony of emotional torture and it was only just reaching its crescendo.

_To be continued..._

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**AN: ...Well that escalated quickly. What bizarre event happened at the end? Why was Ishara so cryptic? And will I ever stop leaving on somewhat semi-cliffhangers? Find out in the next chapter where a lot will be explained.**

**I originally intended for this chapter to be about 5000 words long, maybe 6000, but as you can see it turned out much longer.**

**And I think I've finally realized what's been bugging me about this story; I've been trying to get too fancy with it when I should just focus on being clear and concise. Plus when I tried to be too clever with it I just wasn't enjoying it, so hopefully I've rectified that a little bit with this chapter.**

**Also I'm going to change the rating to M because of this chapter.**


	8. Chapter 5: Answers

**AN: This chapter is going to be a short one, but it will explain a lot about the previous chapter and the questions it presented.**

**Also this chapter is a good example on which to say that the chapter lengths will be very erratic depending on the subject matter.**

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Answers.

Aero was unconscious lying on his side and in total darkness, and yet he was illuminated as if he was lying in the sun on its brightest day.

Aero slowly and groggily woke up; seeing the darkness surround and yet still able to see his hands in front of his face puzzled him greatly. He shakily pushed himself up onto his feet and his vision span intensely as soon as he stood that he thought that he would collapse unconscious right then and there. He quickly held his hands tightly to his aching temples to try and steady himself and to stop his vision from spinning, not that he could tell if it was or wasn't being in this black oblivion.

Looking around Aero couldn't see any landmarks or anything and even then he didn't know exactly where he was in the first place. His vision soon focused and he no longer felt like he was going to vomit up a lung if he tried to take a step forward. He picked a random direction and set off walking at an even pace; He didn't know where he was going or even if he was actually moving due to the deceptiveness of this place, but in his mind it does no good just to sit around doing nothing and waiting for something to happen.

Aero walked for hours or what he perceived to be hours at least. "There's no end." He muttered taking a second's repose.

Then suddenly something shone out of the corner of his eye and he turned to see what it was. A pinprick of light was floating a few feet in front of him in the emptiness, but it did nothing to actually illuminate anything around it. Aero hesitantly reached out to it and took a step towards it as he did.

Aero stopped just an inch shy of it before actually taking a moment to think this through. _"For all I know this could be another one of those nightmares and this is just another trick." _ Aero thought as he turned away from the speck of light. _"Then again, it's not like I have anything left to lose and if I'm stuck here, then I might as well go down fighting whatever has been so keen to have at me." _He turned back to face the sparkling iota.

Aero unceremoniously grabbed the light in front of him and it instantly blasted him back whilst emitting a loud booming noise with him landing on his front a short distance away from it. He looked at it with both wonder at what this anomaly was and what it was actually doing, but also with dread at the thought that this was another ruse brought on by the venom or something much worse.

The light itself was fluctuating wildly and pulses of light shot out from it sporadically momentarily blinding Aero every time it did so. A grey dust started to seep out of the light and began to swirl around in front of it. The dust started to form the shape of humanoid figure and not long after formed the beginnings of what looked like a human skeleton. The skeleton was floating a few a feet off the ground and moved like it was actually alive. Not a moment later it suddenly convulsed, and a red substance poured out of the light before going into the skeletal body and formed what looked like a nervous system. The half-formed body seemed to relax slightly once the nervous completely developed, until it suddenly convulsed again and Aero could actually see the nerves move and twitch as it did so. The light now partially obscured by the body, fluctuated violently before releasing more of the same red substance from before; only this time in a more vast quantity. This time it formed the organs and not long after that lengthy task it began to form the muscles and ligaments around every inch of the body.

It was only then that Aero noticed by how the muscles had formed that this was a woman's body. The body seemed to relax again before it rather predictably and violently convulsed again; only this time it let a painful and tormented grunts and screams this time that threatened to blow out Aero's eardrums if he wasn't careful. Aero squeezed his eyes shut and covered his ears in pain from the skull splitting noise until the shrieking died down before stopping altogether.

Aero slowly opened his eyes to see the form of someone he thought that he would never see ever again, his mother. The same clothes and equipment she was wearing the last time he saw her quickly materialized on her, minus her sword.

The speck of light behind Zafina disappeared before she fell to the ground on her knees and fell forward onto her face. There was utter silence; Aero looked on in both curiosity and bewilderment, until his mother groaned and pushed herself over onto her back. Aero, thinking this was another trick quickly rose to his feet and fumbled for his hunting knife that miraculously was still with him on his belt. He clumsily caught the knife in a reverse grip after yanking it from its sheath in a panic.

"Well, that sucked." Zafina exclaimed throwing her arms out to her sides and taking in deep breaths.

Aero stood there, fear and defiance both very evident on his facial expression whilst holding the knife out in front of him still in a reverse grip.

Zafina rolled back over and pushed herself up and onto her feet. She took a moment to straighten herself out and looked around for a second before homing in on Aero.

She smiles at him. "Heya Aero!" She sashayed towards him. "It's good to see you."

"Stay away from me!" Aero growled taking a more purposeful stance.

Zafina stopped in her tracks. "Aero, calm down. I know all of this must've been hard on you."

"HARD ON ME!" Aero shouted at her. "You try to turn my sister and me against one another! Forcing me to do something that was entirely unforgiveable! Then you have the audacity to come and torment me further using my own mother against me! And you expect me to calm down!" He grips his knife harder, so much so that his knuckles turned white as he gets into a low stance. "Well let me tell you this; you made a big mistake presuming that I would just roll over and give up."

"Aero listen, this is the real me. I'm not one of those imposters brought on by the Wyverns venom." She quickly told him.

He looked her over suspiciously for a moment. "Prove it."

Zafina took a half step towards him. "And how do you expect me to do that, huh?" she asked slightly annoyed and Aero kept his focus on her with a steely gaze. "Look either I'm some fantastical looking psychopomp and just another product of your plagued mind, or I really am your mom and I really am here!" She said staring straight back at him.

"_Psychopomp?" _Aero questioned in his mind.

Aero casually returned his knife to his belt while his stance and facial expression went back to normal. Zafina looked at him in confusion as this sudden change in behaviour. "Okay, it's you." Aero said with a smile.

"Wait, what?" Zafina responded dumfounded.

"You're definitely my mother, my REAL mother." Aero clarified.

"Well that was easy! What tipped you off?" She asked sounding relieved.

"Only you would use the word 'psychopomp' after probably seeing it in one of dad's books." He retorted.

A wide smile spread across Zafina's face. "Am I that predictable?"

"Only to me mom." Aero responded taking a moment to look around. "Any Idea where we are?"

Zafina's smile faded. "Well we're-" She started.

"Hey, how did you come back like that?" Aero asked sounding excited.

"Aero, listen-" she tried to interject.

"Does that mean that Ishara and dad can come back as well?" He asked with eyes full of hope.

Zafina strode up to him until she was standing right in front of him. "Aero, they're gone okay, both of them!" She callously told him. This silenced him; to have a glimmer of hope presented to you and then have it taken away from you hit him mercilessly like a freight train.

Aero stood there in stunned silence for a solid thirty seconds until he asked, sounding as sincere as possible. "How come you're here then?"

"What, you're not happy to see me?" Zafina said putting on an awkward smile. She cleared her throat before continuing. "Sorry." She took a moment and paced around a little bit. "Well, first off we're sort of in your...subconscious; I guess would be the best word for it, but in a way this is a sort of limbo between life and death as well."

"So I'm dead?!" Aero exclaimed.

Zafina laughed at this. "I don't think you'd let that happen so easily now would you?"

He looked unsure before answered. "No...No, I guess not. Besides then you really would be a psychopomp."

"Yer damn right you wouldn't and in case you didn't notice, ferrying the undead really wouldn't suit me. Now, as for how I came back; that is really difficult to explain, but I'll try." She paced around a little bit more holding a hand to her chin in thought.

It seemed like an age had gone by and Aero was sitting down by the time Zafina finally spoke again. "You know about Aura, right?" She queried looking over her shoulder at Aero, he looked up and nodded. "Good, that'll help a bit." She turned to him as he got up. "Well, basically your father and I used up both of our Aura's to get me here before you, and even with our souls being in this raw state it was rather difficult and a little bit painful as you saw from that display earlier. Speaking of which, you really helped out there."

"Um, how did I help?" he wondered aloud.

"When you touched that light you broke the seal on it with your Aura." She responded.

"But my Aura isn't even unlocked let alone that actively strong." Aero said.

"Until now." She plainly states.

"Come again?" He quickly replies.

"Both yours and your sister's Aura's were fluctuating like crazy in the past few hours and when you touched that anomaly. Your father and I felt it and we knew it was both your Aura's." Zafina explained.

Aero let this information sink in for a moment before a question formed in his head, one that bothered him immensely. "But Ishara is gone like you said and I saw her disappear in that field of light myself. So how did both of our Aura's break the seal on that light from this side?" Aero inquired.

"That's where it get's interesting and very radical." Aero raised an eyebrow to this. "You see, about two years ago I noticed that yours and Ishara's Aura's were very unique, in the sense that both of you are bonded by your Aura."

"I don't understand." Aero said.

"Did you ever feel different when Ishara wasn't around or near you? You didn't think the world seemed like a darker or harsher place without her?" She asked rhetorically. "That was your Aura bond; whenever you two were apart I noticed changes in both of you. To the untrained eye these differences weren't very noticeable, but I noticed it as you two spent more time together after Ish's first day of school. Both of you would seem more docile and passive whenever either of you were on your own."

"But Ishara is gone and the world seems darker than ever before!" Aero yelled.

"Not quite. Now what happened right before she disappeared?" Zafina inquired.

"I-I-I...killed her." Aero choked out as he recalled the horrific instance. "And then...I don't know what happened much after that, other than winding up here."

Zafina rushed up to him and wrapped her arms around him. "I know and believe me when I say that you did the bravest and hardest thing any man has ever done or would ever do in the history of Remnant." She whispered gently stroking his hair as quietly sobbed in her arms. "I'm just sorry that you ever had to do it. But what happened right after that is something that gave you the strength to go on and will change your life forever."

Zafina held him at arm's length and brought her head level with his. "That field of light wasn't an illusion or anything like that." He looked at her still teary eyed and now very puzzled. "That was yours and Ishara's Aura's awakening. As she died her soul and in turn her Aura passed into you. You have two souls in you right this very second."

"What does that mean then?" Aero asked wiping away his tears and inhaling steadily.

She gently squeezed his shoulders. "It means that you can push your Aura beyond the limits of any normal huntsman or huntress." She paused momentarily and her expression turned sombre. "But this'll probably come at a cost."

Aero's expression soon matched hers. "Like what?"

"Well with Ishara's soul being in you, I imagine she would feel everything you feel, but I'm just speculating."

"Wait, with Ish's soul being in me, does that mean she's trapped in me forever?" Aero asked sounding anxious.

"Not exactly. While her soul is with you and it will be indefinitely as far as I can tell; her consciousness is with me and your father." She explained to him.

"That's...that's awful, that's just cruel to have parts of you split up like that."

"Aero, this was her decision and in her final moments she understood full well what she was doing. So don't besmirch her final act."

Aero fought the urge to cry again. He wouldn't have the luxury to stop and cry his eyes out anymore. "I'm sorry." He muttered.

Zafina flicked him on the forehead like she tended to do. "And stop apologising. You wouldn't want Ishara to find out now would you?"

"You heard that?"

"Yes I did and...Hey your eyes are different from before." She said looking at him curiously.

"What do you mean, different how?" He pressed

"They have bits of gold in them." She told him.

Aero stepped away from his mother, flipped out his knife and looked in the reflection of the blade at his eyes. True to what his mother had said his brown eyes now had small flecks of gold in the irises and they seemed to move around as if alive, almost like they were unsettled or unstable.

"Best guess to what that's about." Aero said looking up from his reflection.

Zafina put her finger to her chin in thought. "My guess would be something to do with the whole two soul's thing, but it might a side effect of your Aura unlocking; something in your genes perhaps?"

Aero returned his knife to his belt. "I'll have to look into that further, but right now I have a very important question to ask."

"And what would that be?" Zafina asked waiting patiently as Aero took a moment before he spoke.

"What was happening to Ishara and me in that cave whenever we fell asleep? And that wasn't of our own accord I can tell that much."

"From what I know of the Wyvern which is very little by the way, and from what your father experienced; I'd say that the venom invades your memories, your mind or anything it can use and takes what you love most from those to try and turn it against you. I'd also say it's safe to say that because of your Aura bond with Ish is why you both experienced similar visions, despite you yourself not being physically infected with the venom." A brief silence set in as this new information sank in. "But I'm just speculating here, it may differ from person to person if they ever become infected, Monty forbid that should befall anyone else." Zafina added.

Aero nodded in agreement with her.

"It must have also been forcing the both of you to fall asleep by the sounds of and it also felt like it was getting stronger with every passing moment so it probably wouldn't've been long before you lapsed into a coma." Zafina explained further.

Aero furrowed his eyebrows. "Well by the looks of this place I already have."

Zafina lightly ruffled his hair. "No, you're just taking a nap really, nothing to worry your pretty little head about."

His eyebrows remain furrowed and he's let out a disapproving groan.

"Don't look at me like that. It's just a really heavy nap is all." She said innocently.

But her eyes soon had a grave look about them and she was frowning about something as she stared at nothing in deep thought.

"Mom, what's wrong." Aero asked.

"I'm worried what having two souls rattling around in there will do to you and what toll it will take on your body." She turned back around to look at Aero. "At your age and such a tyro stage in your understanding of your own Aura it might not be too much of a problem right now, but as you mature and become more proficient there's no telling what effect it would have had on you by then or what it will continue to do to you. You need to be prepared for it and know your own limitations with it when that does occur."

"So it might kill me if I push too hard, is what your trying to say." Aero surmised

Zafina sighed. "Hopefully not, but I can't help but think of it as a possibility."

A confident smile spread across Aero's face. "Don't worry mom. It's like you said to me once, sometimes you just gotta let the chips fall where they may and you just have to roll with the punches."

Zafina grinned hearing this. "Hmm, probably not my best quote, but I reckon it'll suit you just fine."

"Well, until I think of something better that is." Aero added.

Zafina looked around seemingly at nothing but it was like she had sensed something. "I think our time's up here."

Aero was about to question her on what she meant, when something sent a chill down his spine. In the time he had been in this void he hadn't felt any gauge of temperature, either. No, this was something else.

Zafina gently pressed a hand to Aero's chest, but when it made contact it was anything but gentle. It felt like a sledgehammer had crashed straight into his heart; the pain was making all his senses go haywire with every painful sensation at once, causing him to fall to his knees and shake uncontrollably. The whole experience felt like he was underwater and any sound became extremely muffled.

"Alright, I'm gonna try and sum up all of life lesson's into one neat little package!" Zafina yelled knowing Aero would have a hard time hearing with what he was experiencing at the moment. "Wanted to try and teach these to you in little chunks, but that kinda went out the window!" She grabbed Aero by the shoulder, pulled him up to his feet and steadied him. "You're gonna have a lot of anger swelling inside of you but you gotta channel it and fight the boundaries of the beings that live and thrive off of our greatest fears 'till you break through, because there is a wildfire inside of you and it's a burning desire you can't extinguish." She took another quick look around at the darkness around them. "Time's running out." She muttered.

"Will I ever see you again?" Aero grunted out through gritted teeth.

Zafina looked into his eyes that were fluctuating between his normal brown eyes, a powerful blue glow and a brilliant green shine simultaneously. "I don't know kiddo, but I know with a soul like yours you'll do just fine without me. Deep in that soul there is no hesitation, just like mine and you're gonna be the one that all evil fears."

Aero cracked a weak smile while his face was still grimaced in pain.

"Now, final thought of the day!" Zafina exclaimed with a smile. "Despite everything I've just told you and this may be a bit confusing or may not make a whole lotta sense, but you're gonna have to figure it out on your own. Here it is; Hatred must never be used to fight hatred, okay?" He nodded in a panic before his mother continued. "That anger inside of you, if you let it that is, will consume you and then in turn, Ishara as well." She looked over Aero's shoulder at something. "Time for you to go." She added with a gentle nod. "I understand this is a lot for you to take in and you probably won't remember it all right away when you wake up, but you will, trust me."

Aero felt something slowly begin to pull him backwards and he planted his feet as firmly as he could just trying to stay upright. It proved futile though as he was violent yanked backwards and into the darkness.

"Oh, and get my sword would ya. I don't want just anyone getting their hands on it!" Zafina shouted up at him and waved. "See ya around kiddo, love ya!"

With that he was taken up into the black abyss and his mother's formed faded as he went.

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Aero's eyes snapped open with a gasp. His eyes took a moment to adjust, but he could tell he was in a very unfamiliar environment and he had no idea how he got here. He slowly sat up with a groan and took a better look at his surroundings. He was in a hovel of sorts as far as he could tell and not a very well built one at that. It looked like it would serve the purpose of keeping the wind out but not much else. He was lying on a flat rock and he had draped over him some kind of animal pelt, what kind of animal he couldn't make out at this point. There's was small fire pit dug in the centre of the hovel and it offering only the smallest bit of illumination.

However it provided another light to allow Aero to see something glimmer out of the corner of his eye. This glimmer immediately flew towards him at a great speed. The eerie thing he quickly realised about this was that shining object was his own knife.

He quickly threw his hands out in front of him and squeezed his eyes shut expecting the worst.

_To be continued..._

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**AN: So hopefully that explained a little bit.**

**Other than that, y'know do the usual, drop a review with your thoughts and such.**


	9. Chapter 6: Aquaintances

**AN: Sorry for not getting this out sooner but my eye was messed up pretty badly and it hurt to even open my eyes let alone stare at the screen for too long. Not only that though, but my house's electrics went out completely so been in the dark for about five days.**

**Warning: This chapter does contain an ATTEMPTED suicide, so some may want to skip a particular part.**

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Acquaintances

Aero didn't know what death would really feel like. He felt nothing, which puzzled him greatly as he was expecting some nuance of feeling; nausea, a sharp pain, anything really. But he actually felt…fine, a little queasy but otherwise fine, like he could run a mile and back again.

Aero slowly cracked open his eyes to see he was still alive and still in the flimsy hovel. He looked at the hand he had hastily thrown out in defence of the oncoming blade. He had actually caught the lightning fast knife with no harm coming to him whatsoever. He couldn't believe his eyes; in his dazed and clumsy state he had stopped the knife almost as if on pure instinct.

The hovel was deathly silent with the exception of the gentle crackling from the flames of the fire pit. Aero noticed the blade of his knife was still stained with blood, his and Ishara's blood. He was about to try and scrape the blade clean when a voice echoed from somewhere in the hovel.

"Nice catch." It said in a monotonous and deadpan manner.

Aero peered into the darkness occupying the corners of the hovel to try and home in on the owner of the voice. Just as he had pinned down where the voice was coming from, a figure emerged from the shadows and approached the fire pit.

The figure was that of a young woman's, a young Faunus woman. She looked older than Aero, by at least four or five years give or take. The first thing Aero noticed were a pair of pointed ears on the top of her head and from he could tell they were fox ears. She had titian coloured hair matching her ears, it was braided into dreadlocks and tied back so that it trickled back just past her shoulders. She had brown skin with a faint scar on her upper lip and her eyes were red like rubies.

She was wearing a dark green woollen cloak with a clasp at the front and Aero could spy a bushy red fox tail with a white tip swinging lazily back and forth inside the cloak. The cloak also had a hood sewn onto it and it had fur lining running along the brim. Under the cloak she was wearing a leather bodice vest with a fur lining on her plunging neckline and there were leather straps running across her chest linking the two sides of the bodice. She was also wearing leather breeches with drawstrings fastening them shut and running down the front were small metal plates no bigger than the palm of her hand. On her forearms she wore leather vambraces crudely bound together with frayed pieces of cloth and to match these she was wearing knee high leather boots again looking like they were held together by scraps of cloth. Lastly strapped to her leg was a Bowie knife with a leather sheath.

The Faunus girl's expression was neutral and absolutely impossible to read.

"Where am I?" Aero asks.

She crouches down and stares into the fire not really acknowledging him but answers anyway. "My home, for what the title's worth."

"And you are?"

"What do you remember?" She asked sidestepping Aero's question.

"What?"

"What's the last thing you remember?"

"I...I-I..." He stammers. Truth is, he couldn't remember anything recent or what he could perceive as recent at least. Any attempt to try and recall just turned up in a haze.

"Do you remember your name?"

Aero pauses as if struggling to remember before responding. "A-aero...Aero Gainsborough."

The Faunus girl slowly turns her gaze away from the fire, looks Aero in the eye and all whilst maintaining her stoic demeanour. "The son of Ulrich and Zafina Gainsborough."

"Y-yeah, how do you know them?"

She stands up and takes a step towards him. "That's not important right now and you can put that away." She motion to his knife still in his hand.

"Oh." He gingerly folds the blade back, not bothering to clean it just yet and goes to stow it in his belt only to find it missing. He looks around at his immediate area, but finds nothing. "Hey, where's my belt?"

She's still staring blankly back at him. "It was a...precautionary measure. Plus I had to remove it to check you had any additional wounds, but the only ones I could see that needed changing were the ones on your arm and hand." She motioned to the cuts respectively. "The facial scars seem like they're weeks old, so would you mind telling me why they were still bandaged and bloody."

Aero moved to touch the scars on his face that the she mentioned. But as soon he touched them he felt a beyond painful stinging sensation and didn't feel like it was coming from the wounds or the scars themselves. His head felt like it was going to split open, he gripped it in pain with both of his hands and his knife clattered to the ground in front of him.

Through the pain though, he heard a voice ring through his head.

"_Can we please just go outside, just for a little bit?"_

The pain slowly and passed as the voice faded. "_What the hell was that?" _He thought as he calmed himself. Throughout all that though he had felt what the faunus girl had meant. The cuts had healed and already left scar tissue.

"I…I remember receiving the wounds only…only. How long have I been out of it?" Aero asked, the obvious suddenly dawning on him.

"Two days, by my count that is." The faunus immediately and plainly stated.

"That means I only received the wounds no longer than that," He brought his hand away from his head and retrieved his knife from the ground. "And what do mean by your count?"

She took a moment before she responded and threw a small log into the fire pit when she did. "I found you stumbling through the woods in what I can only assume, was a trance of some kind." She turned to face him. "When I tried to approach you though," She undid one of her bracers to reveal a bandage on her forearm. "You were…unwilling at first, so I had to knock you out." She refastened her bracer to her arm. "Although it seemed like you would pass out anyway, you were beyond exhausted."

"I'm sorry, I truly am." Aero looked down apologetically.

She finished with her bracer, being careful not to irritate the wound. "What's done is done, and by the looks of it you weren't yourself anyway."

The phrasing piqued Aero's curiosity and brought more questions to mind. "There it is again, how do know what I would be like anyway and how do you know of my parents?" he borderline interrogated.

Aero could've sworn that he saw her countenance falter for a split second before she replied. "You didn't attack me when you woke up and you haven't all the while we've been talking. So I can at the very least assume you're not a total buffoon." She snapped the clasp on her the sheath of her bowie knife, obviously being completely confident in what sate Aero would be in when he woke up. "And your parents are well known Hunters are they not?" she added.

Aero heaved a sigh. "Okay, I suppose that would explain it."

A brief silence set in between the two until the young faunus girl resumed her earlier questioning. "Now, I'll ask again and concentrate; what's the last thing you remember?"

Aero closed his eyes and took a moment to think before he responded. "Black…black wings…poisonous yellow eyes." He said with his eyes still closed trying to recall anything that wasn't completely scrambled or pain inducing. "Fear...inescapable fear. A-a hero falling into light and being consumed by it." His eyes cracked open slightly and his breathing had sped up a little. "A large towering object and burning searing pain came with it." His eyes flicked to his hand that had a clean bandage wrapped around the palm. "A familiar face consumed by blackness and turned against me. Then a skull splitting screech before a sudden crunch and a gruesome grinding noise." His eyes opened fully and looked at the blank faced girl now standing no more than a metre from him. "I remember the rain, the constant rain. It just wouldn't stop."

"The rain?" the faunus girl questioned.

Aero slid the animal pelt off of him and sat up fully. "No. No, the blackness, i-it started out so small and it still consumed and kept on consuming until it-it," Aero suddenly stopped and stared straight ahead with wide eyes.

The girl knelt down in front of him trying to meet his gaze. "What did it do?" she asked with an almost accusatory look.

"_You know what I'm asking of you?" _The same voice from earlier echoed in Aero's head again, but this time it felt very familiar.

"It took...it took what I loved most and made me destroy it!" He broke down in tears and held his head in his hands. "It's all my fault! If I had just stayed out of the way and did as I was told then maybe they would all be here now."

"Your family?" the faunus asked and he nodded with his head still in his hands. "So then they are gone." She added darkly before rising up and turning back to face the fire. "Maybe it is your fault that they're gone and there's no way they're coming back." She said after a short lull in Aero's sobs.

Aero's breath caught in his throat at her words.

"I imagine you didn't do anything worthwhile to prevent their demise?" she asked with venom in her tone.

Aero gritted his teeth in anger hearing this. "That's not true! I tried to help my mother fight the Wyvern!"

"You tried and she still died."

Aero stood up and took a step towards her. "I wanted to stay and help my father against the venom."

"Wanted to and he still died."

Aero brandished his knife and flicked out the blade. "I...I spared my sister from a fate worse than death and made sure she stayed who she wanted to be."

She slowly turned back around and the knife tip ever so slightly touched her chin. "You succeeded...and she died."

That's when he only just heard what he had actually said out loud. He remembered the deaths of his parents, but his sister had died at his own hands.

"I-I-I succeeded." He brought the knife away from her chin and his arm dropped to his side.

"A brother killing his own sister; you were weak and so easily swayed. You could put that blade to a better use and end the one responsible."

Aero didn't argue with her this time, he agreed with her. He slumped back down on the rock behind him, while the cloaked girl walked around to the other side of the fire pit and faced him.

"_I'm right and she's right, I might have well have killed them all myself with what I did that day."_

He brought his knife up to his throat and he felt the cold bloodstained steel against his skin.

"_One quick motion, I'll end it all and I'll be able to see them again."_

He clenched the blade tightly and squeezed his eyes shut.

"_Promise me that you won't throw your life away." _The same voice echoed in his head again, only louder than before and as clear as day this time.

Aero panicked with a loud gasp and flung his arm away from his neck. As a result the knife went flying out of his hand, travelling across the hovel and burying itself in one of the walls. On its journey it had sailed past the faunus girl's cheek and leaving a small cut behind. Bizarrely, she cracked a small smile and ignored the accidental maiming altogether.

Aero hunched forward taking in deep breathes. "No. It's not going to be that easy." He growled as he rose to his feet and stood firm. "I remember it all now and I made a promise."

The girl folded her arms in an almost proud manner. "And who really is to blame then."

"The Wyvern." He responded with a wicked smile. "I'm done feeling sorry for myself and the Grimm won't wait for my tears to dry."

She nodded. "Good, very good. But for now, I'm taking to Verbist." She moved towards the doorway of the rickety hovel. "It's the nearest town, so it's a place to start at least. Do you think you can make the trip?" He nodded confidently. "Do you have everything you need?"

Aero thought for a moment when something very important came to mind. "The bandages you replaced, do you still have them?"

"Yes." She plainly stated.

"Where are they?" He inquired and she pointed to one a side of the hovel.

Sitting on a stump, that looked like it was used as a seat, were the scraps of Ishara's shawl that she had used to bandage the wounds on his hand and upper arm. Alongside them was his hunters belt and thankfully inside still was his brass lighter. He stuffed the scraps into one of his pockets and set to work buckling up his belt.

"Sorry about the erratic back and forth behaviour." Aero said as he looped his belt through his shredded trousers. "But I remember my mom saying that it would've taken a while for everything to come back to me and it annoyingly came back in disjointed chunks. You see, at some point between here and from when you found me, she did speak to me. How she did so, she couldn't really explain very well and I honestly I don't think I could either."

What Aero didn't see going on behind him as he was talking, was that the girl in the green cloak was moving over to the wall that had his knife embedded in it. She pulled it out of the wooden wall in one swift motion and spun it in her hand so that she held it by the blade. Without looking she hurled it at straight at Aero, who was unawares and still in the process of buckling up his belt.

However, with the same lightning fast reactions he demonstrated when she did this the first time; He caught it without even turning around. He expertly flicked the blade back in and returned the knife to its home on his belt in one quick motion.

He looked over his shoulder at the shadows the girl had reoccupied. "And if you're trying to settle the score for that," he tapped a finger to his cheek, referring to the cut on hers. "You're gonna have to be faster than that." He smiled and she mimicked the smile, although hers seemed more just to return the gesture rather than out of any real sentiment.

Aero double checked what little possessions he had on him, but he was more interested in what he had experienced when the knife was thrown at him both times. _"So that's what Aura feels like, and that was just in a passive state. No telling what I could do if I use both souls. But mom did say it could be harmful. Guess I'll just have to cross that bridge when I come to it."_

The faunus girl threw up her hood over her ears and extinguished the fire while Aero stepped outside. He only now learned what time of day it actually was, it was the dead of night and a cold breeze was very much present.

"I don't even know your name yet, it doesn't seem very polite just to say 'hey you' or something like that all the time." Aero exclaimed looking up at the clear night's sky.

"Very well then; if you must call me something," The girl responded as she stepped out of the hovel carrying something in a bundle. "Then call me Sculler." She tossed the bundle she had in her arms at Aero and he easily caught it.

Aero did a double take, as he wasn't really expecting a name like that. "Sculler?" He raised an eyebrow. Something was off about the name but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He unravelled the bundle she had thrown; it turned out to be a poncho of sorts and it too was made from a kind of animal pelt.

"Sculler." She repeated.

"Then Sculler it is, I suppose." He threw on the poncho relieved to have something against the cold.

Before Sculler closed the door of the hovel, she reached back in through the doorway and pulled out a simple looking Grosse messer, except it looked like its crossguard had come away through years of use. She partially unsheathed it to check the blade, before sheathing it and then slinging it over her shoulder.

They both set off into the woods with Sculler setting a relatively fast pace. But due to Aero's newly unlocked Aura and his experience in hiking he had no trouble keeping up.

The entire walk to Verbist was essentially silent. Aero had tried to strike up a conversation every now and again, mainly to try and learn more about his mysterious saviour, but otherwise just to fill the silences. The only answer he got was either a stern 'no' or silence.

It was still late into the night by the time they arrived at Verbist and they stopped at the tree line just short of the main gate.

"That's Verbist and this is where we part ways." Sculler stated as she turned to face Aero and motioned with her head.

Aero stepped out from the tree line and turned to face Sculler who was shrouded in the darkness of the trees. "You know Verbist is faunus friendly right? You can come in as well."

"I'm aware of its tolerance and I appreciate the offer." The thankful words seemed peculiar coming from such a stoic person. "But I prefer the quiet of the woods to a bustling town and Verbist, despite its quaint nature, is not really my speed."

"Well I can assure you that you will always be welcome here."

"Can you now?"

"Uh yeah, I've been here more than once." He said a little too quickly for his own liking. He still was unsure of Sculler and the name still didn't sit right with him, especially with the way she proposed it like it was from a list. He wasn't about to be so open with her, especially after knowing her for barely an hour..

"Very well then." She bowed her head slightly. "Farewell Aero Gainsborough."

"And you, Sculler." He nodded back.

Aero started for the main gate of Verbist but stopped after a few paces and turned back to face the Sculler.

"Oh, Thank..." But the tree line was empty and Sculler was nowhere to be seen. "...you." He looked back to the gate and then back to the woods. "Hmm...strange girl."

He walked over to the town entrance only to be met with the same young guard from three days ago when he and his mother walked through town. "Who's there!" he called out as he raised an old bolt-action rifle, which looked like it hadn't been used in decades.

Aero slowly stepped into the light provided by multiple torches lining the gatehouse. "Aero Gainsborough!" he responded.

The young guard lowered his rifle and rushed up to him. "Aero! That really you?" He said in disbelief.

"Yes!" Aero acknowledged.

"What happened to your face?"

"It's a long story, but right now I need to get into town."

"Look Aero, it's great to see you alive and all, but you gotta get out of here now and away from town." The guard warned.

"What are you talking about? Look I can't leave. There's a Wyvern out there somewhere and the town needs to be ready!"

"But wyverns are extinct, aren't they?"

"Not anymore it seems. Now please, I need to talk to someone on the town council."

Before the young guard could respond, an older looking town guard came bounding out through the gate and straight at the both of them. He was dressed slightly different than the younger guardsman and he had a gnarly looking scar on his cheek and corner of his mouth. "Cadet! Is that the young Gainsborough boy?!" the older guard bellowed.

The young guard clumsily snapped to attention. "Uh um, y-yes sir!"

The older guard stopped in front of the cadet. "Then please tell me why you aren't arresting him!?" he demanded.

This confused Aero greatly. "Arrest me!?" both guards turned to him. "Why?" he added.

"Don't try to act innocent!" the older guard spat out venomously.

The guards attitude was grating on Aero and he threw on a scowl. "Whatever it is and whatever your problem is, I don't have time for it." He pushed past both of them and went towards the gatehouse.

He was so focused on alerting someone with authority that he wasn't prepared for the adult guard to come up behind him and aggressively bar his rifle barrel across his neck. "You don't walk away from us. You are going to come with us and you will-" He is cut short when Aero stamps on his foot and then grabs his rifle with both hands.

"It's not going to be that easy." Aero growls before he incredible manages to throw the guard, who was twice his size, clear over his shoulders and onto his back on the ground.

Both the younger guard and Aero had a look of disbelief on them. "Whoa." They both muttered.

The older guard quickly recovered and rose to his feet. He rushed Aero who was still holding his rifle and grappled with him. The rifle was between the both of them and they were both fighting for it. During the struggle, a round went off and went wild into the sky.

Seeing this was going nowhere, the guard quickly looked to the cadet standing idly to the side. "Cadet! Take out his legs!" he barked.

The young cadet hesitated. "But he's the son of Zafina Gainsborough." He argued.

"And he's a suspected murderer!" the older guard countered whilst still wrestling for the rifle.

"I DIDN'T MURDER ANYONE!" Aero yelled at the top of his lungs.

The cadet reluctantly moved to Aero's back. He looked to the older guard and he nodded back. The cadet proceeded to ram the butt of his rifle in the back of Aero's knee. He fell to the ground on his knees with a grunt and also released the rifle he was fighting for control of.

Before Aero could recover, the older guard approached him with his rifle in hand, bashed him in the face it and sent him to the ground.

"Tie him, then get him inside the wall and to the town hall." The guard ordered the cadet. "He's gonna have one hell of a story to tell I bet." He added with a wicked grin as he crouched down next to Aero.

Aero tried to push himself up, but it was futile as the guard soon struck him again and his vision went black.

* * *

_Present day, 2 hours after the apartment fire._

Aero was still sitting on the bench in the empty square and he was gazing up into the night's sky with glazed over eyes. A cold nightly breeze gently wafted pieces of ash from his coat and lengthy hair lingering from the adventure that was the blazing apartment building.

"_That was the day everything in my life changed and I made a rather...peculiar acquaintance." _He thought to himself recalling the series of events of that fateful day._"And if I'd known it was only going to get crazier from that point on; then, well honestly I don't think it wouldn't have made one bit of difference. I still would have kept on going, kept on fighting and remain defiant to the end."_

He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't realise someone had sat down on the bench behind him facing the other end of the square.

"A little late to be playing action hero isn't it?" The person asked.

"And isn't a little late for a nightly stroll this far from Beacon professor?" Aero replied.

There was a brief silence before both men quietly chuckled at their countering arguments.

Aero gave sideways glance to see a man with grey hair, glasses, wearing a green and black suit and with a cane resting next to him. Anyone in Vale, and most of remnant for that matter would recognize professor Ozpin when they saw him.

"To what do I owe the pleasure Professor?" Aero inquired as he turned his Gaze up into the clear night's sky once again.

"In the past month since you left Beacon, you have done more than any hunter has ever hoped to accomplish in their first year at the academy."

"I'm just doing what's right and trying to make my way in this world."

"Oh I know. Defending peaceful faunus protests from human purists, 'dissuading' White Fang operations wherever they should arise, cutting any Grimm if and when you encounter them and let's not forget that even at the end of all that you still have time for the occasional saving of a kitten from a tree."

"And jumping out of a burning building with an infant in my arms and crushing a police cruiser." Aero added with a grin.

"Ah yes, that may be my personal favourite."

Aero's smile faded. "Is there a point you're trying to make here Professor?"

"You're doing good work out here on your own, there's no denying that. But you could do so much more."

"Really?" Aero responded apathetically.

Ozpin nodded. "I understand you're still having trouble controlling your rather…unique Aura as well as your semblance, the academy could help you understand both of them and hone their uses. And with the new year at Beacon starting soon, I'm sure Glynda and Maria would appreciate your talents for scouting new students."

"Not that you could tell with their expressions anyway." Aero chuckled.

"Well they were always more open with you anyway, despite your short time with us." Ozpin looked over at him. "I don't suppose you could tear yourself away from the sky for one moment and look at me in this rather one sided conversation."

Aero smirked. "I find it sobering; you should give it a try sometime."

Ozpin sighed. "You know your skillset and level of experience would be invaluable to the academy right?"

Aero sat in silence.

Ozpin watched him looking up at the sky for a second before turning away and picking up a lidded foam cup filled with coffee. He took the lid off, took a sip and expressed a look and sound of disgust whilst nearly threatening to spit out the liquid altogether.

Aero looked over curious to the professor's disgusted outburst and spied the cup in his hand. He reached over and snatched the cup from the grey haired man. He sniffed it and took a sip himself and expressed the same disgusted look that Ozpin gave.

"You've been refrigerating your beans again." He looked over at a grinning Ozpin. "Haven't you?"

Ozpin shrugs while still grinning.

"If you store them in the fridge they get moisture in them and they get stale much faster." Aero sipped the coffee again. "And you put too much milk in as usual." He returned the cup to Ozpin.

"See what I mean?" he said looking down at his cup.

Aero sighed and pulled his scarf up to cover his chin. "I take it want me to be in Beacon for more than just my culinary skills though."

He put his cup on the floor glad to be rid of it. "I know throughout the years your goals and priorities have been in a constant state of change, whether they were originally your goals to begin with or not; from monster hunting to the protection of the people and to even being a sellsword from time to time."

Aero grunts in annoyance. "I don't mean to be rude, but can we skip this song and dance? I've already heard this speech once too many."

"Ah, right, very well then." Ozpin responded with sly grin, content that he had gotten some sort of rise out of the teen. "I know you've been beseeched before because of your prowess; by your own towns garrison, private companies, even the police force and that group misfits you ran with not too long ago."

Aero clenched his fists in frustration. "Sounds like you've put together quite a profile on me." He glared at the headmaster. "And that group of 'misfits' as you call them were a perfect team and some of the greatest people I had the pleasure of working with."

"My mistake and I apologize." Ozpin bowed his head apologetically. _"He's definitely his mother's son." _He thought with a grin. "Like I said with the new year of Beacon starting, we've begun scouting new students with promising potential and you'd know how to spot that potential. Who knows, you might even get a team of your own."

"Sorry, not interested."

"I urge you to at least think about. We both owe your parents that much." Ozpin told him in earnest.

Aero tensed up and looked at Ozpin with wide eyes. "What did you say?" He asked nearly growling as he did.

Ozpin slowly turned to him. "You may not know this, but your parent's and their team worked with both myself and Miss Goodwitch on numerous missions together and I can say with the utmost confidence that they were two of the greatest people I've ever had the privilege of knowing."

Aero couldn't believe what he was hearing. When he was a child his parents had told him of professor Ozpin, how they worked closely with him and how he rose to be headmaster of Beacon Academy. Yet here he was trying to use his parents and their legacy against him just to have him as an asset.

"If you're trying to use my parents memory to try and guilt trip me into coming to Beacon then you are A, sorely mistaken and B, truly not as honourable as I thought you were professor." Aero's hand drifted to his old hunting knife.

Ozpin raised a hand in defence. "I assure you I am doing nothing of the sort." Aero's hand didn't leave his belt. "Unlike the other numerous offers you've received in relation to your adroitness; at Beacon you will flourish and will be more than capable to make the world a better place than when you born into it. Of that I can promise you." He brings his cane around and rests both his hands on it. "The only reason I brought up your parents is because in their four year term at Beacon and the few years they spent at combat schools prior to that; they became two of the best huntsmen and huntresses ever to walk the halls of Beacon."

Aero suddenly stood up and made to leave before Ozpin spoke again. "I bet that you could achieve all that and more in half the time it took them."

Aero stood in place and in silence with his back to the still seated headmaster.

"Prove me wrong, I dare you." Ozpin added challengingly whilst looking over his shoulder.

A brief silence set in between the two before Aero turned around and said "For the sake my parents reputation, I'll think about it. How's that?"

Ozpin stood up and turned to face the weary teenager. "That's good enough for me." He said with a smile. "I'd hate to have to send Maria out after you and convince you otherwise."

Aero grins widely at this remark. "And I suppose I do owe Glynda a visit after all this time."

"She does miss her favourite chess partner."

"She has others?" Aero asked still grinning.

"Well I just honestly can't contend when it comes to her level of skill and it is starting to get embarrassing." Ozpin replied sheepishly.

Aero folded his arms. "The great professor Ozpin beaten in a simple game of strategy and patience?" he teased.

They both shared a laugh at this until Aero asked. "So scouting huh? I thought it would've been every child's dream to be a hunter for Beacon Academy; so why the need to actively sought out possible students?"

"It seems that younger and younger souls are either being drawn into a life of crime, whether it is the White Fang or other groups; we're investigating and I'm hoping you can maybe help us with that problem if you do choose to come to Beacon."

"I'll see what I can dig up then."

"You have the number for my office at the academy still?" Ozpin asked.

Aero flipped out a card with Beacons number on it from his pocket.

"Good."

With that they bid each other farewell and went their separate ways.

Aero ducked into a back alley and made his way through winding passages and eventually lead out into a more lively part of vale. His ears were greeted with the ambience of people crowded outside clubs and restaurants and the pulsing of bass amplifiers buzzed him as he walked along the pavement.

As he walked and enjoyed the electricity coming off the lively crowds to his left and right; he considered Ozpins very tempting offer.

"_Go to Beacon and follow in my mother and father's footsteps. Stay solo and probably end up getting myself killed…eventually."_

As he weighed these options it had soon started to rain; not very heavy, but enough to be a nuisance. His feet had taken him away from the restaurants and clubs and the like and over to a wealthy shopping district. The elaborate storefronts glared through the rain like spotlights and lavish cars darted through streets slick with water.

"_Go to Beacon, end up with a team and put some poor rookies in danger through my own selfish endeavours. Stay solo and only have to worry about myself…gets awful lonely though."_

He stopped at a street crossing and waited for the light. "Only the best conundrums for me." He muttered with a breathy laugh.

"_Then again, it's not the first I've been presented with a difficult choice like this one."_

* * *

_Seven years ago…_

His vision is hazy and spinning, an orange hue fills his view from a torch on a far wall. His muscles ache and his movement feels restricted.

"_What is that; three, four times now I've been knocked out? It's really starting to get old. I don't think I've been conscious for more than four hours without something or someone punching my lights out."_

He slowly pushes himself only to find his hands in chains and bolted to the stone wall behind him. The room had one lit torch in a sconce and one window with a cold nightly breeze coming through. He felt every bit of the cold as the poncho that he had received from Sculler was gone along with his belt and the contents of his pockets.

"_And once again, my possessions are no longer in my possession; again starting to get a little old."_

He heaved a sigh and gave his chains a tug. _"What a fine predicament this is."_

_To be continued…_

* * *

**AN: Turns out the Aura colours I gave to Ishara and Aero actually correspond to their characters personalities very well. Totally by accident I assure you.**

**Also when it comes to OC description I will go into a fair bit of detail, but when I get to the actual cast of RWBY I will be very brief, because we all know what their characters look like unless I say that their wearing something entirely different that is.**

**Who is Maria and the group that Aero ran with before you my ask? All will be revealed in due time. Other than that, do the usual; drop a review or a fav or whatever takes your fancy.**


	10. Chapter 7: Homecoming

**AN: Hmm, every time I post a new chapter, I lose a follower. Oh well, whatever happens. some may have noticed I changed the story's summary, in my opinion at least, the new one gets the premise of the story across better without losing the cryptic feel the old one gave; plus the old summary was hardly original. Something else I've noticed as well is that the RWBY episodes keep playing in my favour and I don't really have to change much to make my story fit in with the canon, so good for me!**

**I'm sorry if this story seems very jumpy at the moment, but it's needed to convey the hectic nature of the early chapters.**

* * *

Homecoming.

Aero didn't know how long he had been in the cell prior to him regaining consciousness. The cell was literally a box; with the only features being a solitary torch in a wall sconce, the smallest window in existence complete with its own bars and another set of bars making up one of the walls and the entrance. The frigid wind coming through the window was overwhelming, especially with him still donned in his tattered clothes and his fur poncho being confiscated from him.

He grunted as he pulled on the chain that bound both of his hands together, but the bolts on the chain loop showed absolutely no sign of budging. He braced a leg up on the wall and pulled again. The bolts did show signs of coming loose this time, but at this rate he would dislocate his wrists and rip his hands off before he would even come close to getting loose. He admitted defeat and dropped himself to the floor with a heavy sigh.

The shackles had already rubbed fiercely against his skin through his efforts and this only served to bewilder him. Aero looked down at the raw skin underneath the iron shackles and let out a frustrated groan. _"I don't understand it."_ He thought to himself. _"One moment I'm able to go toe to toe with a man twice my size and heal wounds that should've taken a few days at the least to mend in a tenth of the time."_ Helaid back on the cold stone floor of his cell. _"And now I can't even break out of a rusty set of cuffs and chains. My Aura's unlocked, I know this. So this should be child's play."_

He turned to look at the torch on the far side of the cell. The torch itself was out of his reach whilst he was connected to the wall and had no chance of providing any warm reprieve from the biting cold of the night. _"Then again, that's what I am. I'm still just a child." _He slowly rose to his feet and held his hands up in front him. "_And yet, I've experienced more than any man should have to."_ He closed his eyes as he slowly inhaled and exhaled.

"Concentrate." Aero muttered under his breath.

Nothing immediate happened for a moment, until his arms and hands began to flicker with a blue glow. He felt a tingling sensation coursing through him, and even more so in and around his wrists. His flickering Aura soon steadied into a glow, but still seemed to be fluctuating like before. He could feel the tingling sensation turn into a light stinging as the worn and raw skin on his wrists began to heal. He had nearly finished the process, until his concentration was suddenly broken when he heard the metal clanging of the door opening down the hall from his cell.

"_Visitors? Well maybe I can finally get some answers."_ Aero thought as he sat himself down where the wall met the cell bars, trying to get a look at whoever was approaching.

He heard the iron door at the end of the hall clang shut and then a couple sets of footsteps followed. One set was even, yet cautiously paced; while the other was purposeful and loud. It was clear that something or someone clearly didn't belong in this scenario.

His suspicions were confirmed when a woman stopped outside of his cell and she was being escorted by a guard. The woman looked a little afraid and nervous due to the surroundings and the tense situation. She had straight blonde hair that was tied up in bunches, rested forward over her shoulders and reached well past her chest. She wore cream coloured pants, a pair of plimsolls and a white apron over a short sleeved blue top. Under the apron was a very noticeable bump, she was clearly pregnant .She was carrying a folded up blanket with a tray balanced on top.

"Mrs Nash?" Aero questioned looking up at the blonde woman.

She may have looked timidand jumpy initially, but she smiled down at Aero when he recognized her. "Aero, it's wonderful to see you're okay."

Mrs Nash was a woman in her late twenties and she owned a restaurant that was situated quite close to the town hall with her husband. Their restaurant was the very same one that Aero, Ishara and their father had stopped off at for ice cream after Ishara's first day of school. After that day the Gainsborough family had frequented the establishment quite often and developed quite the rapport with the Nash family.

"It's good to see a familiar face." He smiled back as he rose up and stood before her. "Not that I'm what are you doing here, Mrs Nash?"

She took a step towards the bars. "I heard what had happened up in the mountains and I don't believe a word of what people have been saying." She turned to one of the guards. "Um, could you open the door please?"

The guard that was hidden round the corner that Aero had failed to notice altogether was reluctant to adhere to the request. He looked at Mrs Nash and shot her a disgruntled look.

Despite the nasty look, she offered a kind smile back. "Please, it's just a blanket and some food." The guard still refused. "You can keep an eye on us the whole time I'm in there if you want."The guard eventually caved and took out a ring of keys from his pocket.

The other guard that had escorted Mrs Nash in the meantime abruptly brought up his rifle and pointed it at Aero. "Step back!" he commanded "Murderer." He added under his breath through gritted teeth.

Aero obliged by slowly raising his hands and taking a step away from the bars. The guard with the keys unlocked the gate and deliberately went as slow as humanly possible as he did so.

"Is that really necessary?" Mrs Nash complained looking back and forth between the guards.

"It's for your own protection, Miss." The guard with the rifle said.

The childbearing woman turned to the guard aiming the rifle with a glare. "That's Mrs and don't you forget it!" She shouted before turning to the guard at the door. "And you!" He turned to her looking like a deer in the headlights. "Hurry up and get that door open." He grumbled turning back to the lock. "And lose the attitude." She barked. He hurriedly got the door open before retreating back and Mrs Nash strode into the cell with a proud smile. Seeing the woman who looked like a frightened little mouse when she entered the dungeon like environment stand up to and berate the guards was a truly comical site. Aero had a hard time not smiling despite his current door slid shut behind her and the guard who had escorted her hurriedly made his exit.

Aero had noticed that unlike the guards at the gates, these ones weren't actually in uniforms of any kind. The traditional uniforms consisted of a light blue tunic and trousers with a light red stripe going down the front of the leg with the prefecture patch on both shoulders, and they were usually armed with a collapsible baton and a shortsword on their belts if and when they needed it. Seeing them equipped with firearms of any kind was out of the ordinary and the guns themselves had fallen into disrepair.

These guards couldn't really be called guards; these were only townsfolk or previously retired prefects conscripted into a hastily organised militia. The town prefecture only numbered around forty to fifty and even then they were all pretty lax. So if the town council felt the need to conscript townsfolk this young and arm them, then something was very amiss.

"Remind me never to get on your bad side Mrs Nash." Aero smiled at seeing the conscripts reduced to snivelling children.

"Put it down to the hormones, they've been making me very paternal and even more protective." She chuckled as she walked over to where Aero's chains connected to the wall and set down the blanket and the tray with a sigh of relief before turning to Aero. "And how many times have I told you to call me Freesia."

"So what are you doing here Mrs N-...Freesia?" Aero asked with a smile still happy to have some good company.

"Just Freesia," she smiled. "And besides bringing something warm and a hot meal, I didn't think that you should be alone once we had heard you were in here."

Aero was a little caught off guard when Freesia brought him into a warm embrace. He wanted to return the gesture very much, but the hug was a little bit awkward due to the bump in her belly and Aero's shackles getting in the way.

Aero had tears in his eyes as this was the first caring touch he had felt ever since his parents and Ishara were taken from him and it felt like the best thing he had felt in an age. He moved into the embrace as freesia ran a hand through his short hair and kissed the top of his head. Aero may have put on a tough act when he was with Sculler under the assumption that that was all she would respect; but this was someone he knew and someone who's the closest thing he had to family now.

The two of them stayed like this for a while until Freesia said, "When we saw the guards dragging you through the street unconscious it sparked something in the people, but it also divided a few of them." She stated. "A lot of the townsfolk have a lot of respect and admiration for your parents and their family name, and in a lot of ways that's what divided them." She added sombrely.

Aero pulled back from her slightly and looked up at her. "What do you mean? People have been saying strange things ever since I came back to Verbist."

Freesia seemed afraid to say anymore at this time, so she decided to distract him and calm him down a little before she spoke another word regarding his treatment at the hands of the prefecture and the militia.

She put a finger under his chin. "Don't worry about that for now. Why don't you sit down for now, I think I have something I think you'll enjoy."

Aero sat himself against the wall next to the items that Freesia had set down earlier and she carefully sat herself down on the other end of said items. She took a moment to get herself comfortable what with carrying a child and all. She slid the blanket out from under the tray and put it on her lap. Aero took a moment to actually inspect the tray this time. On it sat a covered dish with a small plate of bread next to it and on the other side was a glass of water.

"Hopefully it hasn't gotten too cold." Freesia said with a confident grin as she placed her hand on the lid of the dish and Aero moved his face closer to the tray. She cracked it open slightly and a wave of steam hit Aero like a tsunami. The aroma in the darkness of the cell was like an oasis in a desert and it smelt heavenly. He could smell chicken, chorizo and prawns all in one lovely concoction. Accompanying this was a variety of spices; bay leaves, thyme and garlic were just a few he could detect. This wonderful blend could only be…

"It's jambalaya, made to special order and delivery for one Aero Gainsborough." Freesia said with a warm smile, taking the lid away fully and setting it aside.

The Nash's rustic and homely food is what had first sparked Aero's interest in cooking. Whenever Aero and his family had finished their meal, Freesia and her husband would always allow him in back to the kitchen. That's where he did most of his experimenting with his own recipes and with the Nash's guidance most of them turned out okay.

Aero's stomach growled and the sound echoed around the cell. Freesia giggled hearing this and Aero looked away slightly in embarrassment. He hadn't realized how long he had actually gone without food, and if what he has been told is true then his last meal would've been three days ago if not more.

"And by the sound of that I'd say you've waited long enough." Freesia said stifling her laugh.

Without waiting a moment longer, Aero moves to grab the spoon next to the dish. But his shackles made it rather awkward and he nearly knocked over the glass of water when he dragged the chains across.

Freesia puts a hand forward and stops his movement. "Here, let me do it." She smiled and she shifted herself off the wall and sat up across from Aero with the tray between them. She picked up the spoon and shovelled up a good portion of the meal. She blew on it for a moment whilst cupping a hand under the utensil before moving it towards Aero.

He gratefully and rather eagerly accepts the food, so eagerly in fact that he almost chokes on the first bite. He got a couple of chews in before it ended up going down the wrong hole and he started coughing. Freesia already had another spoonful ready for him when he waved her off so he could get at the glass of water. He snatched it up with both hands and chugged down a couple of mouthfuls.

Freesia put the spoon down back in the dish and retrieved a cloth from behind her apron. "Crap, I'm sorry. I put too much chilli in, didn't I?" She apologized as Aero put the glass down and was lightly panting. "I know you like it hot, but that might've too much too soon." She moved to wipe his mouth clean of a small bit of the jambalaya that had spilled out of his mouth when he started coughing.

Aero took in a deep breath and settled down. "No, it was fine. I just got a little overexcited, that's all." He reassured her as she wiped around his mouth with the cloth. "This would be the first meal I've had in about three days, give or take."

"Well, at least it's good practice for later." Freesia said with a smile as she lightly stroked the bump in her belly. It suddenly dawned on her and she looked at Aero with wide eyes. "How did you survive so long out there without having eaten anything?"

Aero didn't say anything for a moment as he was trying to think it through himself. "I…I think it might have something to do with my Aura unlocking. Maybe it sustained me and nourished me the entire time after it became active and from that point on."

"That's the only real explanation that there could be I suppose; anyone else would have trouble functioning let alone standing if they went that long without sustenance." Freesia touched the side of his face briefly before moving to his forehead. "But aren't Auras supposed to heal wounds and scars and the like?" she glides a thumb over the scar on his brow. "So why are these scars here? Between the time you were last seen in town and your return, these would still be relatively fresh and would take another week or two to scar at the very least. How did you get these anyway?" she added.

Aero sighed and hung his head as remember the series of event that left him with those scars marring his flesh. "That…that's a long story," he slowly looked back up at Freesia. "And if it's okay with you, it's one I'd…prefer not to go into right now."

"It's okay, you can tell someone when you're ready. I'll always have an ear available to ya." She told him with a kind smile and offered one back. "On a lighter note though, congratulations on unlocking your Aura!" She added with a tousle of his hair.

"Thanks." He responded with a gentle smile. "I think I'm ready for more please." Aero motioned to the food and Freesia happily obliged. He ate it slower this time and with more control. As he chewed he looked down at his hand, which was still marred with the burn mark from when he grabbed his mother's sword. "vhat dovn't evplain-"

"Don't talk with your mouth full." Freesia smiled and again she had to wipe his mouth.

Aero quickly swallowed and allowed Freesia to finish before he spoke again. "That doesn't explain this either though." He said raising his hand to show Freesia and she observed the burn marring his hand.

"What do you mean?" She looked back up at him puzzled.

"This happened almost a day before the other two and yet it still hurts like it only happened hours ago." He rubbed a thumb into his palm and winced at the stinging and also eliciting a worried look from Freesia. "And I'm pretty sure I broke this hand at one point." He added raising his unburnt hand from his palm.

"How'd you do that?" She asked.

"Hehe, that's a long story too. But I flared my Aura earlier to deal with some discomfort from the shackles, even then the burn didn't heal and I can't imagine the pain going away anytime soon." He groaned loudly. "It just doesn't make a lot of sense really."

"It will heal...eventually and then hopefully we can figure all this out. Sometimes these things have to happen naturally. It will heal, you'll see." Freesia assured him with a confident smile.

They settled into a good rhythm of her feeding him at a steady pace and stopping for when he reached for the bread or the water. They had just about finished the meal when Aero decided to ask the obvious.

"I'm going to address the elephant in the room here." Aero stated and Freesia looked at him curiously. "Why am I down here and in a cell, Freesia?"

She was silent for a moment trying to find the right words and think them over carefully. "Firstly you're in town hall, in one of the old dungeons."

"Well that does explain a few things; look like they haven't been used in decades, centuries even." He said looking around the confines of his prison. "How long exactly have I been missing?"

"Taking into account that you were going to spend the whole weekend up in the mountains, you were all over due by about five days."

"Then I guess I was way off. I went even longer without food." Aero said throwing in a chuckle even if it was just to keep up appearances.

"You should know; the guards and most of the council are very suspicious of you and even more afraid of you." Freesia warned.

"What do they have to be afraid of from me and what are they suspicious of?" He asked confusedly.

"Aero...I don't know if you know and I can't even express how sorry I am, but..." she started very hesitantly. "Your parents and your sister are missing and a lot of people think you had something to do with it."

"How are the town and the council so sure of this?" He inquired. He knew of their true fate all too well, but how did the town know so fast and how had half the town been turned against him so quickly. He would have probe and prod as much as possible for answers.

"Some hikers on their way to Verbist said that they saw you or someone who looked like you stumbling through the woods and they said that you looked crazed like a rabid animal."

"And?" Aero said with his voice filled with worry.

"They said that you were slashing about wildly with a blood stained knife and that you had a bloodthirsty look in your eye. They said they'd dare not approach you, fearful for their own lives."

Aero took a deep breath and sat in silence for a moment.

"Aero." Freesia said sounding anxious. "Say something, you can talk to me and I'll listen."

"They aren't missing; my parents and Ishara." He stated in a serious manner.

"How do you know? Aero, if there's something you're not telling me you should come out with it. Whatever it is, it's bound to help you get out of this cell and help your case." Freesia practically pleaded with him.

Aero slowly shook his head. "No, that will probably only raise more questions if anything."

Freesia gently rested a hand on top of both his shackled hands. "Either way, you're not alone in this."

Aero looked at her quizzically with a raised eyebrow.

Freesia warmly smiled at him. "Not everyone is against you. Like I said before people have a lot of respect for your parents. Some are very supportive of you and don't think you had anything to do with your families disappearance."

"And what about the rest of the town?" Aero questioned in response

"They're either unsure what to think altogether or think that you did have something to do with it. The whole ordeal has split the town down the middle." She paused as she seemed very uneasy to continue on.

Freesia has always been a very straightforward and forthcoming woman. Only when things came down to the wire did you ever see her loose her cool, and that was without hormones. Whatever it was that was making her so uneasy had to be of the most serious scenarios and frankly seeing was starting to get to Aero.

"Freesia?" Aero said worriedly. "There's something you're not telling me, isn't there?" He may have asked this, but in all honesty he didn't think he wanted to know the answer. Ever since he had returned to town had thought over the words that the older guard had said at the main gate. _"Murderer, that's what he said."_He then remembered what Freesia had said earlier when she first saw him in here. "You said you didn't believe what people have been saying. What exactly have they been saying?"

Freesia's mouth opened and closed as if trying to find the words before she looked away as if out of shame. There was a brief silence before she finally spoke up. "Some of the guards and townsfolk think otherwise." She actually looked in pain when she said this, but she almost seemed to grow a little angry when she continued. "They're saying that you murdered your mother and father in a jealous rage and then Ishara as well."

"A jealous rage!?"Aero snapped in anger at this revelation and startling Freesia as she quickly pulled her hand away from his in shock. This information was more confusing than anything he had been told this night tenfold and that's even if it was the same night when he came back to Verbist. "What backwards voice of 'reason' said this?" He said with surprise still writhe in his voice as he gesticulated wildly with his bound hands and rattling the chains as he did.

"The rumour spread around town and amongst the guards pretty fast, no one really knows its origin." Freesia spoke up as hastily as she could as she had reverted to the same timid state she had entered the cells with. It was easy to see that something had changed in Aero since he had left Verbist with his mother on that fateful day and frankly it terrified her. "L-look, Aero you need to calm down. Getting a-angry isn't going to make them think any better of you and you may lose what support you do have." She choked out.

Aero let out a heavy sigh and calmly interlocked his fingers together in his lap. "Well at least some people had the sense to not believe everything they hear and that explains the remarks the guards have been making." He muttered venomously.

Aero was getting to be tired of being kept in the dark about what had happened in town in his short absence and it was taking all of his patience not to use his full aura to break out the shackles. That way at least he could get some straightforward answers himself, then set the record straight and maybe feel a damn sight better about the whole ordeal. He was so wrapped up in his own desire to clear his name that He had only just noticed that his outburst had frightened Freesia and she was visibly shaking.

Aero promptly and gently clasped his hand over hers. "Freesia, I'm sorry. I'm not angry at you, I promise. It's just...heh well, it's been a rough few days to say the least and this just shows it's far from over."

Freesia calmed down seeing Aero revert back to the same little boy who she'd known for so long. "It's okay, I don't want to imagine what you're going through right now and-"

"But like I said, my parents and Ishara aren't missing and there is some truth in what has been said around town Freesia."

"What are you saying?" Freesia said in disbelief.

Aero heaved another sigh. "My parents and my sister died up in those mountains."

* * *

Meanwhile a few floors up from the cells in one of the offices of the town hall sat a man in leather chair with a high back. The man looked to be in his late fifties, but his weathered face made him appear over seventy. He had grey receding hair and his face looked like it couldn't do anything other than scowl; which really didn't do much for the ratty look it had on the whole. His hands were sprawled out on the large antiques desk in front of him.

The office had bookcases lining the walls and their shelves held many anthologies, encyclopaedias and codices that threatened to burst forth from the shelves at a single wrong breath. This wasn't because there were so many of them; it was quite the opposite in fact. The shelves themselves were very decrepit and in some places rotting from neglect.

The room itself was mostly in darkness with only the moonlight shining through the large window behind him. He took out a match and lit a single candle placed next to him on the desk. Spread across the desk was forms and notices with varying degrees of information regarding the town and the recent events scrawled on them. He ignored all these however and focused on a single piece of paper placed squarely in front of him.

His focus was broken when a knock came at the large wooden ornamental door of his office.

"Enter." He exclaimed in stern and haughty voice.

The door opened with a very audible creak and allowed the front of the room to be partially lit up from the torches outside the office. A relatively young looking guard in full uniform with a rifle slung over his back stepped in and stood at attention before the man behind the desk.

"Councilman Leonhart." The guard addressed the man.

"What is it guardsman and why was sergeant McCole not back here an hour ago with the report on the subjugation on the rioters? However pitiful their attempt was, I might add." Leonhart responded apathetically but with light chuckle as he practically leered at the piece of paper in his hands

"Sir, sergeant McCole has taken leave to tend to his son."

The councilman raised a disdainful and quizzical eyebrow at this.

"Err...his son was involved with the incident involving the Gainsborough family; as well the son of the Drummer family." The guardsman clarified.

Leonhart stood up with a scornful look on his face. "Then why aren't they in the cells with that Gainsborough brat!?"

The guardsman stumbled over his words for a moment as even he was caught off guard by the Councilman's harsh reaction to the news. Leonhart was never a nice man or a very fair one, this was common knowledge to pretty much everyone in town and it created a sort of bogeyman mien about him. Now,admittedly there were witnesses who said they had seen Aero out in the woods and in a very incriminating and belligerent to order the arrest of two more children no older than ten years old alongside Aero, that would be madness beyond reason if they were to share the same fate as him.

The councilman slumped back into his chair rubbing his temples and sighing in exasperation. "Did you at least detain the hikers that saw the Gainsborough boy near Mt. Haine, like you were ordered to?"

The guardsman regained some of his composure when he answered. "Eh…err, yes councilman. They're being guarded and are secluded in the west courtroom chamber."

Leonhart nodded. "Well then you're not as incompetent as you seem then."

The guardsman brushed off the comment and was able to smother a sneer that tried to show itself. "And regarding the two boys sir."

"In which I am in bewilderment as to why you are still here and not dragging them here right this very second!" Leonhart snapped back.

"S-sir, there is nothing to support that they were necessarily involved with whatever Aero is being accused of." The guard countered.

"Are you that naïve guardsman?" The councilman questioned, not really paying the guard much thought.

The guard looked at him dumfounded. "I'm afraid I don't follow sir."

Leonhart reclined in his chair and steeples his fingers. "No, I suppose it was my fault for expecting that much out of you."

The guardman's grip on the hilt of his shortsword tightened and he clenched his jaw. "Then perhaps the councilman would be gracious enough to enlighten me?" He muttered angrily. Leonhart's attitude was starting to get to him and his frustration was already boiling over.

The old man took no notice of the guards change in tone or character due to his own narcissism. "Think about it, those two boys are good friends of that Gainsborough whelp. So who's to say that they weren't helping him with whatever he planned and has evidently carried out?"

The guardsman was stunned at what Leonhart was proposing and continued listening.

"Those two boys are as much a danger as Aero is, especially if the McCole boy is able to sway his father against us." Leonhart sighed at this thought. "That's the problem with people today; they dote far too much on their children and believe any wild accusation or rumour they spew because they believe that a child can do no wrong in their eyes. It's because of upbringings like that that we have an alliance with Lenista," He emphasised 'alliance' with air quotes. "And have faunus blood intermingling with our own."

Leonhart paused for a moment, reached for a quill and began scrawling something on a spare piece of parchment as the guard stood there still completely dumfounded at what he had heard.

"Sir with all due respect; but what does that notion have to do with anything that has occurred this night?" The guard asked not really sure if he actually wanted to know.

The councilman continued scribbling on the paper in front of him when he responded. "The Gainsborough bloodline is a testament to that very transgression and if it wasn't for them then Verbist would be more prosperous and pure with the annexation of Lenista in the aftermath of the civil war." He threw the quill into its inkwell as if vexed and folded up the piece of parchment. He withdrew a stick of red wax from a draw and proceeded to hold it over the nearby candle. "Did you know that the Gainsborough's are part faunus? The civil registry dates that it became part of their gene pool five or six generations ago. Lynn Gainsborough, formerly Augurio I believe is who it was and she married into the family by being betrothed to one Thomas Gainsborough." He took the stick of wax away from the candle and by now the tip was melting. "And the Gainsborough's being so obnoxiously accepting of course welcomed her with open arms."

The councilman dripped a few globs of wax on the folded up piece of paper and sealing it with a ring seal he was wearing. The seal left an imprint of the Verbist crest, except this differed slightly in that it had the initials SL emblazoned over the top of it. Leonhart then gingerly placed the letter next to him on the desk before looking to the guard still standing at attention before him. The old man had deliberately not let the guardsman stand at ease for the simple fact that he liked now having unbridled control over pretty much everything within the walls.

Leonhart rests his head on his raised hands and heaves a sigh before he continues. "Well, we'll come to that all in due course."

"Sir?" The guardsman responds confusedly.

Leonhart gets up out of his seat and moves to the front of his desk. "For now let's deal with one nuisance at a time." He reaches behind him and retrieves the letter he set aside. "Take some men with you and apprehend Luz McCole and Andrew Drummer. If their parents do so happen to object, which they almost certainly will, then arrest them too and bring them here alongside their urchins." He explains to the guard before presenting the sealed letter to him. "This is a warrant for the two boys arrest and also any whom should be caught assisting in their abscondence. It bears my seal as the highest authoritarian at this time and for the foreseeable future." He added smugly.

The guardsman begrudgingly took the letter and slid it into his belt whilst managing to hide a sneer. Without saying another word he left to gather a squad and carry out the task he was given.

Councilman Leonhart had just returned to his seat behind his desk when another knock came at his door.

He groaned in annoyance. "Yes, what is it?"

The door flew open and in strode an older and more weathered looking guard. He had a close shaved haircut and a look in his eye that was dripping with malice. Marring his face was a jagged scar running across his cheek and to the corner of his mouth. His stride was confident and undeservingly. He stopped short of the desk and saluted. His uniform differed from the norm in that he had a thin red sash going across his chest and he was equipped with a sabre instead of the standard shortsword.

Leonhart sat up in his chair with a grin realizing this was one of the few people he could tolerate seeing at this moment. "Ah! Corporal Cassius! Just the man I wanted to see!" He exclaimed happily standing up from his seat once again.

"Councilman Leonhart." He responded lowering his salute.

Leonhart approached a small cabinet secreted in one of the bookshelves. "I trust our-" He looked to see the Cassius still standing rigid. "Er, you may stand at ease corporal."

Cassius relaxes, but retains his posture. "Thank you, sir."

"I trust our rambunctious young fugitive is comfortable?"Leonhart inquired as he opened to the cabinet to reveal a small selection of liquors.

"He is. We acquired him at the front gate and brought him here as ordered; I saw to it personally."

"Good! Good! There was no trouble I take it?" Leonhart questioned merrily as he poured himself a glass of cognac. "Can I offer you a drink, corporal?" He asked turning to him glass in hand.

"There was a minor hiccup, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle, and yes, a scotch if you have it."

The councilman sipped his drink before returning to the bar. "A scotch it is, and please do sit down, corporal." He said gesturing to the seat on the other side of the desk.

Cassius sat down on the less magnificent looking chair in front of him and rested his rifle upright against arm of the chair.

"Now, I can't imagine this hiccup you mentioned will put too much of a crimp in my plans." Leonhart stated handing Cassius his scotch.

The weathered corporal took a swig of his drink before answering him. "The boy seems to have his aura unlocked, but he didn't really seem to know how to use it, let alone maintain it. He'll probably be more a danger to himself than anyone else."

Leonhart returned to his seat and reclined back with a sigh. "Double the guard on him, and only men _you_ trust; that guardsman before you seemed far too liberal for his own good."

"I'll see to it as soon as possible, councilman."

"See that you do," He responded as he gently swirled his drink. "Can't afford any slip ups just when we have things under wraps. That boy is young, but still a Gainsborough. If he's half as capable as his parents then he could scupper my entire aim."

"...our aim." Cassius interjected.

"Come again."

"Our aim." He repeated. "If Sergeant McCole wasn't convinced to relinquish his duties and to then leave me in charge, then the townspeople would still be rioting over the forced curfews and we wouldn't have the draftees we need for the prefectures numbers."

Leonhart smiled at this. "That's what I always liked about you, Cassius; you're never afraid to step on someone's throat and split a wig when it comes to the greater good."

Cassius cracked a grin and held his glass up to his face. "You flatter me, councilman. All I did was...set an example and provided the means for Verbist to take what it is owed."

Leonhart raised his glass as well. "And what a fine example it is."

They both downed their drinks in triumph.

Leonhart set his glass down on the desk and looked at Cassius. "Ya know, you always did show promise. At this rate, with the way McCole has shown that he is clearly incapable of doing what needs to be done, your future is looking better by the second."

Cassius raised an eyebrow at this. "I'm listening."

Leonhart let out a haughty laugh. "Why, you could take his place my good man!"

Cassius grinned from ear to ear hearing this, and combined with the scar it created an absolutely menacing look.

"And with Zafina now out of the picture," Leonhart continued. "You may one day be captain of the guard, and none of that honorary shit the rest of the council gave her after she refused to make it official. I'm talking the real deal."

Cassius started to laugh and it gradually picked up in volume. "Five years I've been stuck at corporal. All because of that Gainsborough bitch and that schlub McCole."

The councilman got up from his chair and collected his glass. "Well then, I think it's been long overdue then. They never really did approve of your particular way of approaching a situation, did they?"

The corporal slowly shook his head, all the while grinning like a madman.

"Well, once we have everything in order, we can discuss and celebrate each of our promotions." He motioned to Cassius' glass. "Another?"

"Please." He replied hand him the glass.

Leonhart went over to his liquor cabinet and went about refilling their drinks.

"We all have a place in this world, corporal." Leonhart told the soon to be captain. "And I believe ours is very high, very high up indeed. But, before we can get there, we need to take care of a few little skid marks on our otherwise perfect and unstained avenue to utopia."

"Very poetic, councilman. And what would these skid marks be and how can my skills be of use." Cassius said with a mischievous grin.

Leonhart stepped away from the liquor cabinet and closed it shut. "Firstly, I need you to gather the other council members and put together a jury. Despite the overwhelming incrimination against the Gainsborough boy, we still need to have a public tribunal or we'll end up creating more problems than that family ever did."

Cassius slumped back in his chair and scoffed. "Hardly seems worth my time."

Leonhart handed Cassius back his now refilled glass. "We need to do it this way for now. It has to appear legitimate in the eyes of the people. Besides, this will give you a chance to instil your own brand of fear into any and all who may have notions of rebelling."

Cassius didn't look convinced.

Leonhart returned back around to his seat and sat down with a smile. "That doesn't mean that we can't manipulate the outcome of the trial though; he couldn't see the light of day indefinitely if we want, or we could go with something more spectacular and memorable. And once we have that out the way and have the will of the people on our side, it can be changed it so that I...we stay on top and the worms stay down."

The scarred corporal raised his glass and smiled. "The boy's family's gone, a town that doesn't want him and is against him, and we have the guards and most of the townsfolk in our pocket. Can't think of a better thing to drink to."

"I can." Leonhart countered.

"Really?" Cassius looked at him quizzically.

Leonhart sipped his drink before giving the corporal his thoughts. "Once the boy and any collaborators burn, or whatever method takes your fancy, I'll leave that up to you."

"I'll go with my gut and whatever comes to hand." Cassius said in confidence whilst tapping his hand on his sword next to him.

"And I expect nothing less." Leonhart approved with a nod and a smile. "Once the boy and anyone who stands with him have been dealt with, I want you to take a selection of the guards, I'll draw up a list in due time, and then I want you to round up every pure blood faunus that you can find in Verbist. I will provide with the town records, which should make them easier to find. Discreetness is the key to this. We can't risk one of them getting away from us and spooking the others, or they'll scatter and corralling them will be made that much more difficult."

"They're animals; it'll be just like hunting. All you need is the right bait and strategy." Cassius chuckled. "Is that all?"

"No, and this must be taken care of as soon as possible." Leonhart stated sitting up straight and laying his hand on top of one another in a serious manner. "I want you to go down to the west courtroom chamber, and make sure you're armed. In there, you will find two hikers that stumbled across Mister Gainsborough in the woods, and they are currently under guard. You will order the guards to leave, thus leaving you alone with the captives. If they do not, or they question your orders in any way shape or form, you may subdue them in any way you see fit, use your imagination. Once the guards are dealt with and the room has been secured; you will then terminate the two hikers with extreme prejudice." He briefed the corporal in detail before downing his drink. "Is that understood?"

Cassius stood up and snatched up his sword. "This night is getting better and better by the minute." He said happily downing his own drink and putting the glass down on the desk.

"And I can assure you, the days ahead are going to be even better." Leonhart added.

Whilst Cassius was fastening his sword back onto his belt and getting ready to leave, Leonhart had shifted his attention to the piece of paper he was looking over before the first guardsman disturbed him. "How actually is prisoner by the way? I do hope he is suffering all alone in there, I did make sure to get him the cell with the leaky walls after all." Leonhart inquired with a smirk.

"It's so cold in there that even a Beowulf would be clawing to get out. But, he's not alone in there, he got a visitor."

"Oh?" Leonhart looked up at Cassius quizzically.

"Freesia Nash came to see him; she's a good friend of the Gainsborough family. She's still in there with him now." Cassius explained.

Leonhart cackled hearing this news. "That blonde bimbo! She always was fond of the boy, but I didn't think she was that fond. She's practically the boy's groupie" He laughed for a moment longer before continuing. "Well I think we can allow her to stay there for a moment longer. After all, it'd be rude to interrupt Aero in the process becoming a man, especially so soon before his demise." His laughter died down after a short moment. "Get her out of there once we have the rest of the council gathered. That should give them enough time to finish up in there."

Cassius saluted and stood at attention. "Yes, sir!" He exited the room to carry out the councilman's deeds.

Leonhart chuckled again and shook his head. "By Monty, that woman will open her legs and get on her back for just about anyone it seems; it's a wonder she wasn't pregnant sooner." He muttered as he pushed the two glasses aside. _"Might have to visit her myself by tonight, once I have her detained as well that is." _He thought as he tried to remind himself what he was doing before he set his pieces in motion.

A wicked grin pulled its way onto his face as he redirected his attention back to the piece of paper before him. He enthusiastically snatched up his quill and signed the form in front of him with as much flourish as he could muster.

The details of this form concerned one thing and one thing alone.

The execution of Aero Gainsborough.

* * *

There were other pieces to play in this game of fate however, as something was indeed going bump in the night. The streets may now be home to hastily put together patrols, and lit up so much it almost created the illusion of daytime; but the rooftops of Verbist were hardly devoid of activity.

Two hooded and cloaked figures darted along the darkened rooftops running the lengths of the streets below. One of the figures was tall and shrouded in grey, while the other was relatively short and in green. Green led the way while grey lagged behind a few metres but was able to keep pace. Their footsteps barely made a noise on the clay tiles as they dashed across them with their cloaks sailing in the air behind them.

Despite the drafting of any able and willing citizen; the town security was spread thin due the bolstering of the general patrols and recent double postings on both the gates and the town hall. The two infiltrators had a laughable time of getting into Verbist itself as the walls and rooftops were the least of the patrol's worries.

The cloaked strangers stopped on a high roof overlooking the town square where the market stalls were still set up. The green figure moved more nimbly to the roof than its taller comrade, as grey had slowed to a jog and was wheezing a little as it caught up. The shorter figure ducked behind a chimney to hide from the guard's sight and the light coming from the gas streetlights below.

The green figure turned to look at the grey figure that had dropped to one knee. "Are you sure you're going to make it?" She asked in a cold and somewhat harsh tone, without even a hint of worry in her voice.

Grey coughed a few times before standing back up. "I've been doing this before you were born, so don't worry about me." He responded in a gruff, but strained voice.

The girl responded with a huff and peered down into the streets and to the rooftops across from them.

The man walked up to the ridge of the roof and observed the patrols in the streets below. "Hmm, more guards than last time. Then again these aren't really guards, are they?" He queried looking towards the girl in green only to get silence in return. "You're always the best for conversations, aren't you, Kamala?" He smiled.

"Where do you think they're most likely holding him?" She asked ignoring his quip about her bearing.

"Most likely in the town hall somewhere. But look at these patrols." He said pointing down towards the square and the streets leading to it. "Not all of those men are guards. Half of them aren't even men, they're boys. Something's got them spooked enough to practically give anyone a uniform and a gun, and they don't even have enough uniforms or very serviceable guns by the looks of it."

"If they talked to him or know what he is now capable of, then they have more than one thing to be concerned about." Kamala told him.

They both quickly ducked down past the ridge of the roof when one of the guards of passing patrol turned his gaze up to their location. They laid down on their fronts to further conceal themselves just in case the roofs got a little too crowded for their liking.

"Boys or not, they're still sharp and they're ruling with an iron fist for what that's worth. We won't get far if we don't know exactly where he is in the building."Kamala whispered.

The guard eventually moved on and caught up with his patrol. Both of the cloaked figures cautiously stood up and they heaved a sigh of relief seeing that the patrol had advance further down the street.

The man smiled and clapped Kamala on the shoulder. "That's where you come in my dear. Your...talents should make finding him and slipping past these conscripts that much easier."

"A curfew has been set up for the townspeople to make them easier to manage and any vigilant citizens are much easier to find and subdue, despite some of the guards being citizens themselves literally only moments ago. But not all of them are just draftees. Some are fully fledged guards and some of them even have combat experience." The girl in green explained.

"You mean the glorified pest control? They wouldn't so much as draw their swords without a Hunter by their sides." He spat out angrily. He hung his head and took a deep breath. "And now they're both gone, and now someone has this town over a barrel and is having their way with it."

A painful silence set in between the two before the girl spoke up. "You have to focus, for his sake. You can't let your feelings on this matter get in the way."

The man chuckled at this. "That's like asking water not to be wet." He turned to the girl and gave her a stern look. "He's my family and he's the last of my family."

Kamala folded her arms and leant against the chimney. "Look, I understand what your-"

"You don't," the man cut her off. "But I appreciate the sentiment." He turned to look back over the rooftops. "If we do have to deal with the guards, then don't worry about it." He brought one of his arms out in front of him and made a fist. As he made the fist, a blade shot out from his sleeve and along the underside of his arm via an unseen mechanism. "I'll deal with them. You just worry about getting to the boy." He told her as he stroked his hand along the flat of the blade.

Kamala sighed in exasperation. "You realize if we are found out, it won't take long for them to overpower us, despite how capable you think you still are and then it will almost certainly mean the death of you, me and the boy."

The man retracted the blade and shrugged as he walked past her. "Well then we won't get found out, simple as that."

"After all these years I still don't understand how you can be so carefree in the face of danger."

"Years of practice." He replied with a grin looking over his shoulder. "Now, if there are no more questions. Let's get this performance on the way and put on a show."

Kamala nodded and fell in behind the man.

With that they both took off into a sprint along a length of roof that would take them all the way to the town hall.

* * *

Back down in the holding cells Freesia was still in Aero's cell and they were both sat in silence. Aero sat there gauging Freesia's response to his own revelation only moments ago and she sat there with unreadable expression as the information sank in.

"Freesia," The sound of Aero's voice snapped Freesia out her thoughts. "Say something, anything." She was silent and it was starting to unnerve Aero. He hung his head and sighed. He regretted telling her that the rest of his family was dead and now he'd probably lost the trust of the only one who'd believe him right now.

"And did you do it?" She asked suddenly and in a worrying tone.

"No, I did not." He plainly stated. "But, for all you know I could be lying and I have no evidence that says whether or not I did or didn't do it. So I ask you this; do you think I did it?"

Freesia was caught off guard by his countering question. She chose her words carefully and gently touched Aero on the shoulder. "Aero, sweetheart, look at me."

Aero obeyed and met her gaze.

She smiled at him. "I'll tell you what I think, and I think that you wouldn't even be capable of even thinking of such a thing and I'll tell you why I _know_ this. Do you remember when you first came to my restaurant?"

"Like it was yesterday, it was Ishara's first day of school."

Freesia nodded. "She was asleep in your father's arms and you were right alongside the both of them. You looked a little beaten and bruised, but that looks to be a drop in the ocean to how you look now."

Aero scratched his cheek and laughed nervously under his breath. "Yeah, some bullies were trying to get at her when she wouldn't do what they said. And me being me, of course wasn't gonna stand for that."

Freesia shook her head in disagreement "No, that wasn't just you being you."

Aero looked at her, bemused.

"When your father set her down in one of the booths, and you sat down next to her, she clung on to you despite her being asleep. Even when she woke up, she wouldn't leave your side."

Freesia unfolded the blanket that she had brought in with her.

Aero looked downcast when she said this. "She blamed herself for what happened when I defended her. It's funny, whenever anything went wrong concerning me or I was hurt in some way, she would always blame herself. But I always told her that I knew exactly what I was doing and I promised to always protect and help her whenever she was in a pinch. I would do anything for her, all she had to do was ask."

"That's what made you such a good brother." She said with a smile before she suddenly swaddled Aero with the blanket. She pulled it tight around him and cuddled up next to him.

Compared to the chill of the night, the warmth from Freesia combined with the heavy blanket, felt like Aero was sitting next to a fireplace. Freesia slipped under the blanket herself and wrapped her arms around Aero with a sigh.

"I swear, how'd you get to be so cute?" she muttered under her breath.

Aero's face went beet red at hearing this and he felt a little too uncomfortable. "Eeeer, m-mrs Na-" he stuttered.

Freesia pressed her finger against his lips. "It's 'Freesia', remember?" She told him playfully. She removed her finger from Aero's lips. "And don't worry; I'm not trying anything. I just came over all motherly hearing you talk about your sister like that. Plus you are adorable, always so humble and modest." A massive smile crept onto her face. "I could just squeeze you until your head popped off."

His voice cracked when he murmured in response. "U-um."

Freesia giggled at this. "Rest assured I won't."

Aero's blush faded and he cleared his throat. "Thank you, Freesia."

"Only stating the truth." She replied whilst gently petting him on the side of his head. "Now, Getting back to that day. Your father had gotten all three of you ice-cream and I brought it over just as little Ishara was waking up. He might not've said it, but I could tell your father was immensely proud of what you did that day at school. I noticed that even though Ishara was awake, it looked like she had a deathgrip on your hand. If you two weren't brother and sister, and I was a betting woman, I'd reckon that you two would've been married within a couple of years."

Aero looked stunned and when craned his head up to look at Freesia. "That's...a little disturbing to think about, Freesia."

Freesia burst out laughing at his reaction. "Don't worry, it wouldn't have happened. But, I won't deny that you two looked like the cutest couple I had ever seen. Even when it came time for you all to go home, she still wouldn't let go of your hand, and in a perfect world, you two wouldn't leave one another's side no matter what."

Aero looked down and away from Freesia. "She was perfect in every way, and in a perfect world, she would be alive and I would gladly take her place in death." He said remorsefully. "Unfortunately, it's _very very_ far from a perfect world." His tone came across unintentionally venomous.

Freesia lightly slapped him on the chest and glared down at him with a piecing stare. "We've got enough angst already in this town, thank you very much. And I don't think your family would be too happy with you being so negative, especially Ishara. What would she say if she saw her big brother being so pessimistic? Your mother and father would say that it's not in the Gainsborough way." She said sternly, so much so that she was virtually scolding him.

Aero looked at Freesia with genuine surprise. He wasn't expecting this sudden change in mood, nor was he expecting her speech to be so compelling. His words had only just repeated in his head and he mentally berated himself. Again, he had forgotten all those promises he made to Ishara that morning, and he felt nothing less than ashamed.

Freesia's expression suddenly softened and she laughed nervously. "Sorry, sorry. It's...these blasted mood swings. This far along and I still haven't gotten used to be pregnant and all the 'perks' it comes with."

Aero slowly shook his head and grinned at her shifting behaviour. "It's okay, Freesia, it's okay." Aero said. "I haven't gotten that far into depression. Actually, I really needed that kick up the ass. It reminded me of something that I seem to have trouble remembering as of late. Right now I think you're the only one that I can really trust as of this moment."

Freesia nervously laughed again. "Well, err, you're welcome, I guess. And I'm flattered that you trust me."

"Well, in our family, we considered you and your husband as a part of ours." Aero told her with a smile and he enclosed both of his shackled hands around one of hers.

"Awwww, you always know just what to say to make anyone smile." Freesia sweetly replied.

Aero rested his head on Freesia's shoulder. "I miss them, ya know?" He said drawing in a deep breath.

"I know you do." Freesia responded as she rested her head on top of his and gently massaged his hair. "They were good people and they will be remembered, I can promise you that here and now. And I can bet that they're gonna be right beside you in spirit all the way."

"_You have no idea how right you are, Freesia."_ He thought remembering what Ishara did before she disappeared.

"And you're right; it wouldn't be doing me any good to take a negative approach to this." Aero said. "I need to stay positive, prove my innocence, and then get people to focus on the real issue at hand."

"What do you mean? What is the real issue, Aero?" Freesia asked.

Aero pulled away from her slightly and stared into space. He was taking a moment to word very carefully what he was going to say next. "There's a Wyvern out there and that's what killed my family." He said without missing a beat.

The colour immediately flushed from Freesia's normally rosy cheeks. "W-what?" She murmured in disbelief and horror. Her grip on Aero tightened out of fear.

"And it may well be coming here next, which is why I have to speak to someone or find some way to see about preparing the town as soon as humanly possible." Aero added.

"Are you sure it was a Wyvern?" Freesia asked.

"As sure as I am sitting in this cell."

"But, aren't they supposed to be extin-" Freesia tried to counter.

"Extinct, I know. But there is one out there and it is very much alive." He said interrupting her.

Aero knew he ran a risk with telling Freesia this information, the whole thing sounded completely farfetched, and he might lose the trust of the only he knew he could count on. But if he was going to be stuck in this cell, then he had no other option. Trying to convince someone that a creature long thought extinct was alive and was responsible for the death of two fully fledged hunters would be borderline making him sound like a lunatic.

"Well then, we need to get you out of here as soon as possible then." Freesia said looking down at him with a bright smile.

Freesia's smile showed that she believed Aero and that was a great load off his mind. Now he had pieces to play, so to speak. "I don't think I will be getting out of here any time soon, or at least not soon enough for the towns own sake."

"Okay, so what do we do then?" Freesia asked.

Aero heaved a sigh. He had one thing that had weighed heavily on his heart since he had returned to Verbist. "There's one thing that needs to be taken care of first before we…or rather you do anything else."

"Okay and what's that?"

"I need you to go to Andy's and Luz' parents," He started.

"Okay…" Freesia said unsure of what Aero was getting at.

"and tell them that…that, first off I'm very sorry for their loss and that…"

Freesia squeezed Aero's shoulder. "Aero, what is it?"

Aero groaned in annoyance through gritted teeth. He wanted to handle this situation as delicately as he could, but that just drew it out and made it more difficult. "Damn it, they're gone."

"Who's gone?" Freesia asked.

"Andy and Luz. I…I think the Wyvern might've gotten them too, and-"

"Aero, Andy and Luz are both alive." She stated interrupting him.

Aero looked at her in disbelief and stumbled over his words for a moment. "H-how, when did they….Are you sure?"

Freesia nodded with enthusiasm. "Very. They stumbled back into town a few days after you all left. That's how the whole town knew something was wrong in the first place and why everyone a little on edge anyway."

Aero heaved another sigh, but this one was in relief. "That's something at least." He said cracking a smile.

"But," Freesia started. "They haven't really said much since they did come back. They've been pretty catatonic. Every now and again though, they've apparently been mumbling something about black wings, and red and yellow eyes."

These sounded exactly what Aero went through whenever he fell asleep or passed out in that cave with Ishara. The thought of those visions alone made him come out in a cold sweat. He hung his head and wiped his brow. "That would be the Wyvern. They must've had similar visions that I had whenever I passed out by the sounds of it."

"What kind visions?" Freesia asked concernedly.

"The kind that should never _ever_ come true. Just pray to Monty that they weren't as cruel as mine." Aero replied in a low voice.

Aero shifted and rested his head back on Freesia shoulder. She held him tight in her arms as he settled against her with the blanket wrapped around the both of them. Freesia rested her cheek on top of his once again. "What kind of a god would allow so many horrors to befall such a kind soul?" Freesia gently cooed. "I don't think Monty has any control over your destiny anymore, even if he wanted to."

They both stayed huddled together like that for at least half an hour. Aero was just about to drift off to sleep, voluntarily this time. But both he and Freesia were greatly startled by a loud rattling at the bars of the cell. One the guards had rattled one of their riot batons along the bars to get the occupants attention.

"Time's up! Time for you to leave Mrs Nash." A voice barked from the other side of the bars.

Freesia looked over to see a man dressed differently than the other guards, and he had a grisly scar going from his mouth and along his cheek. He had a sadistic grin plastered on his face and was staring at them both, but Freesia could feel his eyes crawling all over her.

"C-could you just give us a minute?" Freesia replied.

The grinning guard shook his head and let out a low chuckle. "You've had long enough. It's almost time for his trial and hearing." He said reaching into his pocket and fishing out a ring of keys. He opened the cell door and flicked out his riot baton. "Now…OUT!"

"GIVE IT A REST, CASSIUS!" Freesia screamed at him. "You're not scaring anyone, and the scar just makes you look stupid!"

Cassius pointed his baton at her in a threatening manner. "You'll get yours. Don't think that just cuz you're pregnant that you'll get any special treatment." He warned angrily. "I'll see to that…personally." He added with a perverse smile.

He returned his baton to his belt and sauntered down the hallway a short ways. Once Freesia was satisfied Cassius was out of earshot, she turned back to Aero who was wide awake next to her and just as on edge.

"I've never seen that guard before. Who is he?" Aero asked.

Freesia glanced back to the cell entrance to make sure Cassius wasn't leering around the corner. "That's corporal Cassius. He doesn't really do much guarding of the town itself, so it's a rare occurrence for anyone to really see him, during the daytime that is. He's either getting drunk in a bar or harassing anything with a pulse."

It suddenly dawned on Aero, he had seen that guard, once and only once before. "Wait, I have seen him before, he was the one who knocked me out by the gate when I made my way back. He almost seemed to want to make his personal business to arrest me and bring me here."

Freesia smiled down at Aero and ran a hand through his short hair. "Don't you worry about him." She told him. "You just focus on staying positive and calm for your trial. You do that, and you'll prove your innocence and hopefully the town will calm down after that."

"Positive and calm. Should be easy enough." Aero responded with a smile.

"You'll be out of here in no time, I promise." Freesia responded. "It's about time I left though."

Aero shifted his head off of her shoulder and pulled away slightly. "Thank you."

"It was just some food and a blanket, just some creature comforts that anyone deserves." Freesia coyly replied.

"No, I meant thank you for the company." Aero clarified.

"Oh, so the food was bad." Freesia said with a sly grin.

Aero threw up his shackled hands in defence. "No, that's not what I meant, it was good and-"

Freesia couldn't help but giggle at his frantic apology. "Relax, Aero. I'm just teasing you. I know what you meant. You're so cute when you're flustered."

"You can be very cruel sometimes, ya know that, Freesia." Aero pouted.

Freesia slid out of the blanket and patted her legs. "I aim to please. Now be a dear and help me stand up, my legs have fallen asleep."

Aero nods and happily obliges. He hops up to his feet and shrugs off the blanket. He takes both of Freesia's hand in his own and with a gentle pull he helps her to her feet.

"How far along are you now? With the pregnancy I mean." Aero asked.

"Oh, only about four months, still a ways to go yet." Freesia replied dusting off the back of her pants. "Hermes can hardly wait." She gently cupped one of Aero's cheeks. "What I said about Cassius' scars doesn't apply to everyone, just him really. On you though, they look rather dashing."

"Well, whether or not they're permanent or not is my only concern about them." Aero said with an intense stare.

"You mean you don't want to be a cool looking, cut up warrior type with a face that tells a story every time you look at it." Freesia countered enthusiastically with a smile.

Aero was surprised with the picture she painted in her own mind. "No, if anything I want the scars to stay. It may sound weird, but they hold a great significance to me and what I now have."

"Hmm, you're right, that did sound weird. But I think with the current circumstances, we have to be more accepting of the bizarre and macabre."

Freesia picked up the blanket from the floor and draped it back around Aero's shoulders. "I'll be sure to tell Luz and Andy that you're alive and well."

"Thanks, Freesia, for everything really."

She made a fuss of dusting off the blanket after it had been discarded to the floor. "This town owes your family a lot. This is the very least I could do. Oh! I'll see about getting you a change of clothes as well; the scars may look good on you, but the caveman look doesn't."

"That'd be great! These ones are starting to get a little funky. Thanks again, Freesia." Aero spoke happily.

Freesia waved her hand politely dismissing his gratitude. "Enough of the thanks already, you're gonna make me blush. Besides, it would be my pleasure."

"So, what are you hoping for?" Aero asked.

"Hm?" Freesia hummed.

Aero gestured to the bump in her belly.

"Oh! Right!" Freesia exclaimed in slight embarrassment. "I, er…haven't really thought about what I wanted it to be. I guess I was gonna let it be a surprise." Freesia rested both of her hands on her belly and gently stroked it with a big smile on her face. "What do you think it'll be?"

"I bet it'll be a girl." Aero said matching her smile. "And I'm also willing to bet that she'll be just as beautiful as her mother."

Freesia let out a hearty laugh. "Forget dashing. You're full on debonair!" She said, happily.

Aero looked away shyly and a little red in the face at her compliment.

"How'd you get to be such a sweet talker at such a young age?" Freesia asked while she gently pinched his cheeks.

She eventually released his cheeks and gave him a chance to answer. "I don't really know, I just say what I think is true and whatever I think people deserve to hear."

She yanked him forward into a bone crushing hug. "Cute and charming! You are going to break so many girls' hearts when you're older."

Aero managed to worm his head partially out of her grasp as it had gotten lodged in her bosom. "Freesia, I…can't breathe."

"Sorry." She said with a grin. She loosed her grasp but still held him close.

"My mom said the same thing to me once around a year ago." Aero spoke after catching his breath. "What do you mean when you say that?"

Freesia giggled at this. Once again, his boyish charm had warmed her. "I'll tell you when you're older, I promise." Freesia responded. "Meantime, I'm gonna start planning a big slap up meal to have once you're out of here, and then you can help me and Hermes think of some names for this little one." She added, tapping a finger on her baby bump.

"You're gonna be at my trial, right?" Aero asked.

Freesia smiled warmly down at him. "Of course I will, and so will many others. Like I said, you're not gonna be alone in this."

Freesia hugged him one last time before making her way out of the cell. Just as she exited, Cassius came back to the cell and leaned up against the wall opposite the entrance, and still exhibiting a sadistic grin. Freesia immediately tensed up seeing and hurriedly made her way down the hallway.

Cassius was watching her every second as she left and Aero noticed his gaze travel lower and lower as Freesia footsteps faded out of earshot in echoic passageway. Cassius' whole behaviour in general made Aero sick to his stomach and it didn't fill him with confidence for his upcoming trial. Even if Cassius hadn't been the one who knocked him out at the gate and wasn't mentally undressing Freesia right in front of him, Aero had a feeling he still wouldn't be convinced that he wasn't total scum.

The sound of the door clanging shut signified that Freesia had left. Cassius then shifted his gaze to Aero, who was standing idly in the middle of his cell with his chains pulling his arms slightly to his left.

Cassius pushed off the wall and took a few steps towards Aero. "Have fun with her, did ya?" Cassius asked stretching his smile more so his teeth were bared.

Aero didn't answer, he only glared at him and was trying to anticipate Cassius' next move.

He began to slowly circle Aero, and kicked aside the food tray as he did. "Aw, look at you acting all tough. Trying to be like mommy and daddy before you gutted them?" He cackled a little at the end.

"SHUT UP! That's not true!" Aero snapped at him in a rage.

Cassius struck him in the back of the knee with his baton and Aero fell down onto his hands and knees with a painful grunt. Cassius then crouched down and grabbed a handful of Aero's hair and pulled his head up. "Easy now. You're gonna wanna hold onto that anger. Don't wanna disappoint the audience of your trial now do we? It's gonna be a hell of a show." He cackled once more before he shoved Aero's face into the floor and let go of his hair. He then proceed to continue circling the boy.

Aero coughed a couple times as he pushed himself up off of the floor. "What's going on in this town?" he muttered under his breath.

Cassius had heard him though. "Only what will make this town great, and you maybe could've been a part of it if you really wanted to. But we couldn't run the risk of you being such a goody goody like your mom." He crouched next to Aero again, got right in his face and smiled. "And by the sounds of it you're going to be difficult and remain defiant to the greater good of this oh so lovely town of ours."

Aero spat blood in his face that was a result of when his face was shoved into the ground. Cassius didn't flinch from this action, but his eyes suddenly have a very animalistic look about them. Cassius sighed and calmly wiped the blood mixed with saliva off of his face using his sleeve.

"You really shouldn't've done that you know, I thought we were just starting to get along as well." He stood up and immediately struck Aero twice in the back with his baton, sending him flat to the floor.

Aero broke out into a coughing fit from the beating and he spat out a little more blood onto the floor.

Cassius sat down crosslegged in front of him and returned his baton to his belt just as Aero's coughing started to settle down to a laboured breathing. "Ya know, it's a shame it isn't your sister here instead of you, but I imagine you did her too, huh?" He gently patted Aero's head. "It's okay, though. I just imagine I could've had a lot more fun with her than you."

Aero felt an incredible pain in his chest at Cassius' words when he mentioned Ishara. It felt like someone had taken a giant needle, coated it in salt and rammed it into straight into his heart. He dug his fingers into his palms, so hard in fact that he drew blood. The rest of his body was entirely tensed up from the excruciating torment of his heart. Ishara's soul was feeling the malice of Cassius' words as well and Aero could do nothing to stop them getting through. What Cassius was saying made her feel vulnerable and naked, and Aero felt every bit of her fear as his own. He could almost hear her screaming and crying inside his head for Cassius to stop talking. Aero knew he would be able to protect her in the physical world, but to protect her subconsciously was an entirely new concept to him and one he didn't feel he would be able to any time soon.

"Tell me something, Aero." Cassius said, sounding apathetic to Aero's physical pain. "Do you think she would have been a screamer? Or perhaps maybe it would have been one those soundless moans where her mouth was open wide but with nothing coming out. I always thought she would have been a screamer. Oh! Oh! Maybe it would have been those really squeaky yelps and she would only scream when I smack that young and tender flesh of hers." He laughed maniacally at the end.

Aero slowly and with great effort, raised his head up and looked up at Cassius as he continued laughing. The look in Aero's eyes looked like that of a man possessed by that of a demon. The pain in his chest mixed in with the hatred for the man before him made it impossible for any form of control over his emotions. "You're sick." Aero muttered under his breath.

Cassius smirked seeing Aero struggling to even look at him. "Then again, every time she screamed, I suppose I could always find something to shut her up. Hah! What am I saying! I could just ask you. You must've had first dibs on her and with how close you were with her; she probably wouldn't let anyone else have her."

Aero gritted teeth so hard he thought they were going to shatter in his jaw. "I'm…I'm gonna…KILL YOU!"

Cassius leaned back slightly in surprise at Aero's outburst. "Well, you do sound very convincing and determined." Cassius quickly glanced around the room and then looked at Aero's chain leading up to the wall. "But you gotta pick your battlegrounds better. I mean, you chained to a wall and me armed and ready to kill something at the drop of a hat; hardly seems sporting, and that means a lot coming from me." He leaned back in toward Aero. "But for now, you're gonna satisfy my curiosity."

"I am going to kill you…and it's not going to be pretty." Aero muttered and with a maniacal grin threatening to twitch its way onto his face.

Cassius leaned into his hand and rested his cheek on his wrist. "Yeah, yeah, tell it to the judge, he'd be over the moon to hear those kinds of words coming out of you. Now, you always did everything with your sister, right? Held her hand when you walked to school with her, looked out for her when she was in trouble, things like that and more. But, I believe you were 'closer' with her than any 'normal' brother should be."

"Bastard!" Aero spat. One of his eyes had turned green and the other began to glow blue with wisps of aura coming off if it.

Cassius backhanded him across the face. "Such language! Did Ishara like it when you were like this? Did she like it when you talked dirty to her?"

"You don't dare speak her name!" Aero yelled. His green eye had begun to glow now alongside his blue one.

Cassius backhanded him again and Aero's eyes returned to normal. "Noooo, because only her biiiiiig brother is allowed to have her. Tell me, what was it like to have your baby sister at your beckon call like that." Aero tried to turn his head back up, only to be met with another backhand. "I bet that with all you did for her, she probably felt so guilty that you took all those beatings from bullies when you tried to protect her that she bent over for you the moment you were alone with her." He allowed Aero to look up at him this time, and Aero's glare had not diminished one bit. "Now the real question is; when you actually had a taste of the candy, how was she? What was it like to have her be your rutting bitch and have her whenever you wanted to?"

Cassius casually grabbed Aero by his hair and pulled him upwards as far as he would go without ripping off the top of his head. Aero winced and grimaced at the pain, both from his chest which was excruciating and from his scalp. "I feel comfortable telling you that I am very envious of you. I always did like em young and _very very _innocent." Cassius licked his lips as he finished.

Aero, surprisingly, laughed at this. This elicited a curious look from Cassius and he firmly tapped Aero on the back of the head.

"I didn't hit you so hard that you've now gone insane, did I?" Cassius asked slightly confused and a little bit curious to Aero's reaction.

Aero continued laughing when he answered Cassius. "No, it's not that." Aero slowly sat up on his knees. "I just find it incredible how someone like you ever became a member of the prefecture, and I find absolutely hilarious that you think you're the one in control here. Because I promise you that when this is all over, you will look up at me from the flat of your back and your death will be slow and agonizing."

Cassius grinned at this. "There's that attitude that almost bought you a place in this grand scheme. It was very convenient that you murdered your parents; it gave us our smoking gun to put the town under martial law and make them see who really has the power."

Aero didn't answer him.

"If we didn't have to have you disposed of we would probably give you a medal for your 'service' shall we say." Cassius continued. "But it would be pretty bad form to commend a murderer, no matter what family he belongs to."

Aero remained silent.

Cassius shrugged thinking he wouldn't get another rise out of him and stood up. He walked towards the cell exit before suddenly stopping at the door. He held a finger up and span on his heel. "Oh! One more thing." He exclaimed. He strolled back over to Aero and leant down close to him. "When you killed her, how easy was it? Did she accept it because you told her to, so it was pretty easy? Or perhaps you used your relationship and got creative with it, maybe convinced her to suicide in front of you?"

Aero clenched his jaw in an attempt to control his anger. He wasn't going to satisfy the corporal sick perversions or desires.

Cassius then did something that caught Aero totally off guard. The perverted corporal reach into his back pocket and produced Aero's hunting knife. It still had both his and Ishara's blood dryly coating it. Aero's eyes went wide and his jaw dropped at seeing this. This could be the one piece incriminating evidence that would seal his fate and possibly the fate of Verbist.

Cassius was casually flipping the knife up in the air and catching it when he spoke again. "Judging by the look on your face; this is what you used wasn't it?" Cassius stopped flipping the blade up in the air and took a second to admire it. "It's a good little blade, almost brand new by the looks of it." He went back to flipping the knife. "I hear slitting a little girl's throat, is like cutting through warm butter. Did it feel anything like that?"

Seeing the knife again put Aero over the edge. He wasn't angry though. He felt all the sadness of the loss of his parents and his sister come flooding back like a tidal wave. Tears spilled freely from his eyes and he hunched over slightly as he sobbed.

Cassius had the biggest smile he had shown so far in his face. Seeing Aero bawl in front of him had been the highlight of his night so far. "Don't have a breakdown on me now! Awww, you're gonna be cruel and keep me in suspense as to what the answer is, aren't ya?"

Cassius continued smiling as Aero continued to silently cry. He sat there for a good long moment, just admiring his handiwork of reducing the boy into a blubbering mess. After a while though, he did remember the whole reason he came down here. He stood and walked out into the hallway outside the cell.

"Alright, let's get him out of here and upstairs!" He called down the passageway.

Seconds later, a couple of guardsman came trotting in and set to work of unchaining Aero from the wall and getting him ready to move.

Cassius leant up against the wall opposite cell door and stared down at Aero as the other two guardsmen hoisted him up. "He's got a very exciting night ahead of him." Cassius said as he resumed flipping Aero's knife and began whistling a cheery tune.

Cassius didn't know how true his words would be.

Many pieces are now in play.

_To be continued…_

* * *

**AN: I went back and improved some parts in the prologue and a couple of other chapters, so they should be slightly easier to read, aren't too much of an info dump and actually have more emotion in them. Anyway, this story's starting to have a lot gears turning at once, and hopefully they will all mesh together how I want them to.**

**Also, about what Leonhart said about Freesia, she's not a woman that gets around, Leonhart is just an ass. And Freesia lines may seem a bit cheesy or cliché, but that's part of her character, she the sappy, always trying to cheer you up type. Lastly, here's something I can promise you all here and now; Cassius will get what's coming to him for what he said about Ishara, I'll see to it personally. Other than that, do the usual, drop a review or PM and let me know how the story's doing.**

**Side note: Anyone else excited for the X-Ray and Vav cartoon that's coming soon? Because I sure as hell am!**


	11. Update

Gonna be taking a couple of days off to do some major overhauls on the some of the earlier chapters.


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